PARIS (Reuters) – American super heavyweight Joshua Edwards was eliminated from the Paris Olympics after a loss to Italy's Diego Renzi, while Australia's Harry Garside and Tyra McDonald also suffered losses on Monday.
Top-seeded Edwards, one of the medal favorites in the super-heavyweight division, tried to use his distance to keep Renzi at bay with his jab, but the Italian landed two powerful right punches in the first two rounds.
After receiving a point deduction in the second round, the American managed to win in the third, but it was too late.
Australia, which has the largest Olympic contingent with 12 boxers, struggled to get off to a good start on Monday.
Garside, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, fell short despite Hungary's Richard Kovacs showing great talent by taking control in the second round of their lightweight bout and defeating the Australian by unanimous decision.
Kovac will next face either Rio Olympic silver medallist Sofiane Oumiha of France or Obada Al-Kasbeh of Jordan.
“He made the adjustments he needed to make in the second round and it's all credit to him,” Garside said.
“I just couldn't adjust quickly enough. I really envisioned myself winning gold for Australia.”
In the women's lightweight division, MacDonald was also dominated by Ecuadorian Maria Jose Palacios, winning by unanimous points decision.
The tall Palacios easily got past McDonald's guard and also had the advantage in the judges' scores.
In the opening match on Monday, Asian Games champion Yang Wenru of China easily defeated Ha Thi Linh of Vietnam.
