OLYMPICS / Barcelona 1992: Lawson disappointed: Boxing

BRITAIN'S heavyweight boxer, Paul Lawson, suffered a decisive defeat in the ring last night. The 25-year-old Londoner was bitterly disappointed with his performance against the American Dannell Nicholson, who won a 10-2 decision under the new computerised scoring system.

Lawson, from the Repton club, never made his mark against an inexperienced opponent who started boxing only four years ago. Lawson took standing counts in each of the three rounds and afterwards was too upset to talk about the fight.

Britain's chief coach, Ian Irwin, said: 'I wasn't too disappointed with his showing. He could have beaten the fellow with the jab, but needed to get a bit closer to him. He showed good use of the feet, but you don't get anything in this game for looking good.'

It was Britain's second defeat of the day, following a perfect start to the tournament delivered by welterweight Adrian Dodson, flyweight Paul Ingle and light-middleweight Robin Reid.

Their first defeat was suffered by the middleweight, Mark Edwards, the team captain, who was outclassed 21-3 by Chris Byrd, the son of the American squad's head coach.