London 2012 Boxing: Manoj Kumar blames cheating for his exit

Indian boxer Manoj Kumar (64kg) cried "cheating" as he made a controversial exit from the Olympics, losing a thrilling pre-quarterfinal bout to home favourite Thomas Stalker at the ExCel Arena here.

The 26-year-old Manoj fought well but appeared to be distinctly unlucky not to get points as the British boxer managed a 20-16 victory last night to move into the quarterfinals.

"It doesn't look fair because he was going in one direction and the scores 7-4 and 9-4 to him don't justify that," the dejected Commonwealth Games gold-medallist said after the loss.

"It doesn't look like an Olympic Games but more like a district competition because if it's Great Britain in the ring it doesn't matter who's against them. It's like a district competition where there's lots of cheating, cheating, cheating," he added.

Stalker won the first round 7-4 and maintained his lead by winning the second round 9-5. The Indian then launched an all out attack in the third and last round which he claimed 7-4 but some debatable judging ultimately saw him leave the arena disappointed.

The Indian camp understandably was furious with the decision and strongly felt that Manoj was at the receiving end of some dubious point calls.

India's Cuban coach Blas Iglesias Fernandez said Manoj should have won the other two rounds as well as he fought in the same manner.

"The last round was 7-4 (to Kumar). Why no other rounds? All rounds were the same. It was very poor judging," he said.

On whether his boxer was "robbed", Fernandez said "I think so."