Cuban, American pugilists pack the punches

Light-welterweight Ricardo Williams matched the pace of his hard-punching U.S. team mates on Wednesday by stopping Australian Henry Collins in his Olympic boxing debut.

"A lot of my team mates are having the 15 point outclassed rule or knockouts so I want to keep the streak going," said Williams, who outclassed Collins in the fourth round after building up a 21-5 lead.

The jury in Olympic boxing can step in and stop a fight when a boxer opens up a 15 point lead if they think he has no chance of recovering.

Ringside judges and the referee, who can stop the fight at any time, are not aware of the running scores.

Williams, fighting with a photograph of his sixth-month-old son Ricardo Williams III attached to his left boot, found himself 3-0 down in the first round but once he came to terms with Collins' tricky right it was all one-way.

"I won't get hit this round," Williams told his coach before the final round and he kept his word.

Indian referee Gaive Nagporewalla appeared not to hear the bell as the jury intervened and Arthur Tunstall, a vice- president of world body AIBA, used a whistle when he had to stop a later fight.

"I didn't know there was so many bells that could ring and I wasn't used to it so I just kept going," said Williams.

No American or Cuban, whose countries are the only ones with a fighter in all 12 weight divisions, has been beaten yet in the Olympic ring, with only the heavyweights and super-heavyweights still to make their appearance.

VENTER TAKES A BREAK

Cuban light-heavyweight Isael Alvarez made easy work of Italian Giacobbe Fragomeni, also winning on the 15 point outclassed rule in the fourth round.

The Italians had a winner however with light-welterweight Sven Paris beating Thailand's Pongsak Hrientounthong 14-3.

German light-welterweight Kay Huste, whose brother Falk went through in the featherweight division on Monday, progressed to the second round by beating Argentina's Victor Hugo Castro 5-3 on points.

South Africa were also jubilant after light-heavyweight Danie Venter saw off Syrian Ihab Alyousef 12-9.

Nicknamed "Take a Break" by his team mates, Venter found himself with time on his hands after Alyousef's headguard first came off and then needed to be replaced with a new one in round three.

The win meant three South Africans were in the second round, more than many had expected.

"Personally I think it is something a bit surprising to all South Africans," said Venter. "No one in the boxing expected us to go through the first round.

"Now in the second round we're going to prove you wrong again and all go through to the third round."

Britain's hopes came down to their sole remaining boxer, super-heavyweight Audley Harrison, who fights on Saturday for the first time, after light-heavyweight Courtney Fry lost tamely 16-3 to Ghana's Charles Adamu.

Fry -- nicknamed "2Hot2" Fry -- was caught cold and admitted his legs felt heavy in the ring.

"The game seems to have changed. We taught the rest of the world to play it and maybe now we've got to change and do something different," said coach Ian Irwin sadly.

Nigerian Olusegun Ajose, Williams' next opponent, had a walkover after Anoushirvan Nourian of Iran was thrown out of the Games at the weekend for failing a dope test.

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