Shiva Thapa failed to pack a punch and bowed out of the Rio Olympics on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Indian pugilist, competing in his second Olympics, was no match for fourth-seed Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba in the opening round and lost 0-3 while also sustaining a cut above his left eye.
Both boxers, familiar with each other since their junior days and having faced off in the finals of the Youth World Championships as well as the Youth Olympics in 2010, were cautious at the start of the bout. However, Ramirez, who held a 2-0 head-to-head record going into the fight, was precise with his punches and guard as he hardly broke a sweat as the bout progressed.
The nimble-footed Cuban, a London Olympics flyweight gold medallist, connected well with his right-left jabs and had the Indian dazed a couple of times.
Shiva, a World Championships bronze-medallist, struggled to connect as Ramirez danced around the ring displaying good footwork and deft feints.
Having scored well in the first two rounds the Cuban went more on the offensive in the third and often caught the Indian on the wrong foot, resulting in the Assam boxer getting a standing count of eight.
Shiva's Olympic debut four years ago also ended in the first round.
The Indian boxing challenge is now limited to Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg), both of whom advanced to the pre-quarter-finals.
