The Queen Falls and More Olympic Problems

I was half-asleep this morning, with the TV on and the VCR/DVD player already recording the first women's boxing matches of the 2012 Olympics.  My fading in and out ended when Queen Underwood stepped into the ring against British boxer Natasha Jones.  Announcers Teddy Atlas and Bob Papa mentioned that Underwood had fought against Jones before and lost.

Now there have been some bad referee calls and judges' decisions all throughout the men's boxing matches (Errol Spence Jr.'s match really stands out).  But Queen Underwood's loss -- a close one, according to sports observers -- appeared to be justified.  The female fighters fought four, two-minute rounds.  It seemed that Queen Underwood didn't do enough the first three rounds, but rallied in the fourth round.  However, she couldn't make up the lost points that far into the match. 

Underwood did a mighty job of holding back her emotions as she answered a reporter's questions right after the match.  I felt so bad for her that I was wiping away tears.  Partially because she lost, but mostly because of all she went through to get to the Olympics.  I wasn't aware before today that she and her sister had been victims of abuse from their father.  Boxing helped save her life.  Gotta give her respect.  Today, she became the first American woman to have a boxing match at the Olympics.  Like Laila Ali who was commentating on the women's matches said, Queen Underwood is still a champion.

Elena Savelyeva (in red in the photo above), a Russian who became the first woman to win a boxing match at the Olympics, stated that there is no prejudice against women boxing in her home country.  If only that was the case every where else in the world!

There was a match where one woman held another woman by her arm up against the ropes (sorry, I can't remember their names at the moment).  The woman against the ropes was punched four or five times in the face.  The referee should have got on the other boxer about holding, but nothing was said.  In another match, a woman was knocked to the canvas with a right.  It should have been counted as a knockdown it wasn't.  Atlas and Papa were grumbling all morning about the bad calls and dubious judges' decisions.  I couldn't blame them, and I was agreeing with them.  It appears the women boxers are getting jacked just like most of the male boxers have been so far.