Jitender Kumar's Olympic hopes were dashed abruptly on Saturday when the referee stopped the contest in his 81kg light-heavyweight bout against Ukraine's Andriy Fedchuck.
The Indian boxer was trailing 11-12 when a left-hand jab by the Ukrainian in the dying seconds of the second round left a deep gash above his left eye, forcing the referee to consult the ring doctor, who asked the contest to be stopped.
In the four minutes he was in the ring, Jitender was impressive. He attacked his rival and scored with some powerful punches.
Fedchuck surged ahead as soon as the match progressed, and went into the second round leading 5-4. But Jitender bounced back to surge ahead to 9-7 and then 11-10 before the left-hand jab did him in.