Olympic Boxing: Tough Scoring Prevents U.S. Featherweight Williams from Advancing to Quarterfinals

The second round of elimination bouts did not fare as well for featherweight Raynell Williams as it did for team mate Demetrius Andrade, who will proceed to the quarterfinals on Sunday. On Friday, August 15, 2008, Williams lost his chance at an Olympic medal when he was defeated by Khedafi Djelkhir of France, an opponent he previously beat in the 2007 World Championships.

The southpaw Williams was looking to stick and move in the first round and Djelkhir was the first to score a point on the inside. Williams was the busier of the two fighters, using combinations, most of which landed on the gloves of the tightly defensive Djelkhir, but some punches did get through that did not register any points. Williams finally got on the board towards the end of the round, landing a clean counter right to even the score at 1-1.

Djelkhir was the aggressor in the second round, coming in on Williams and landing again, constantly stalking the dancing American. The U.S. featherweight was landing punches that were still not registering points. Djelkhir gets in a right hand, to which Williams responds with a body shot that goes scoreless. Round two ends in favor of the Frenchman, 4-1.

In the third round, Williams came out jabbing and two jabs land, snapping back the head of Djelkhir, but scoring only one point. Both fighters exchange and each score, before Djelkhir scores another point. A lot of action in the third round with both fighters registering less points than are actually landing. Although Williams is staying active, he seemed to spend too much time with leg movement rather than sticking and moving. Djelkhir leads at the end of the round, 7-4.

The U.S. coaches implore Williams to let his hands go in the last round. The fighters begin the fourth in a clinch and wrestle back and forth before exchanging punches that register points. A nice three punch combination by Djelkhir lands with his left hook registering a point.

Djelkhir, with a three point lead, begins to run and avoid Williams, who chases him, landing a double right hook that goes scoreless, but another right hook lands and does score. At the end of the round, a final left from Williams lands and again does not register a point, ending the bout at 9-7 in favor of Djelkhir.

Throughout the fight, both fighters landed several clear punches that should have registered points in a bout that should have easily been in the double digits for both fighters.

The most evident was in the first and fourth rounds when Williams landed several clean shots that went scoreless and could have easily been enough to win the bout. After the fight, a frustrated Williams said, “I felt like I was throwing a lot of punches but I guess it didn’t count for a lot. I did my best, that’s all I can ask for.”

The Olympic scoring system is one that definitely needs improvement. The scoring is currently run by five judges, three of which must register a point within one second of each other for it to be scored.

A great concept, but not a realistic one to get consistent scoring. Between a reaction time of only one second and the positioning of the judges, a lot of points can and have been missed through several bouts.

It’s a subject that can be reviewed in much more detail, but in short, it is a flawed system that is detrimental in a single elimination tournament.