Americans struggling to adapt to faster pace

The U.S. team will be hard-pressed to improve on its performance in Sydney.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- While Rock Allen chased Boris Georgiev around the ring in a futile attempt to slow the agile Bulgarian fighter, Allen's father shouted from the stands:
"Stop running and box! Stop running and box!"
No chance, Dad. The best amateur boxers know just how to move and exactly when to pounce -- and two Americans who failed to match that style are out of the Olympics.
Allen was pounded 30-10 in his light welterweight bout and welterweight Vanes Martirosyan was beaten 20-11 by Cuba's Lorenzo Aragon in second-round matches Thursday at Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall.
Light heavyweight Andre Ward advanced to the quarterfinals with a 17-9 win over Italy's Clemente Russo, but he soon will have the same problems as his teammates. Ward's next fight is against Russia's Evgeny Makarenko, a two-time world champion who battered Cuba's Yoan Pablo Hernandez moments before Ward's fight.
Big challenge
The U.S. sent eight fighters into the second round with six victories and two byes, but coach Basheer Abdullah knows it will be tough to improve on the four medals won by American boxers four years ago in Sydney. Americans once dominated Olympic boxing, but scoring changes and the lure of professional money have eviscerated the program.
"We have yet to prove as a team that we can compete against the best in the world," Abdullah said. "Those bouts that we won, we were supposed to win those bouts. If we could have won against a Cuban or a Bulgarian, that would have been a great start to the round for us."
Lightweight Vicente Escobedo was the only American fighting today, against Azerbaijan's Rovshan Huseynov. In his only fight of the Olympics, Allen fell behind Georgiev early and never caught up. Not in the ring, where Georgiev practically ran circles around him, or on the scoreboard.
Different style
Allen, a Philadelphia native who will turn pro in a few weeks, knows all about the problems with amateur boxing for fighters who share his power-based, stand-and-punch style.
"Olympic-style boxing moves at a much faster pace for those short four rounds," Allen said. "In the pros, we've got all kinds of time. The best guys at the Olympics are veteran guys, and this is all they know. A lot of these guys, you're going to see in 2008 or 2012. I have a pro style, and it's hard for me to adapt."
Ward, an Oakland, Calif., native, was more successful in a sometimes plodding victory. After a first-round bye, Ward was eager to get his first Olympic action -- but he knows his bout against Makarenko easily is the biggest test of his six-year winning streak.
"I saw him walk out. He's big," said Ward, a natural middleweight who bulked up several years ago in an effort to avoid fighting his cousin. "He's not the first big guy I've fought, though. I've been fighting giants my whole life."
Martirosyan had an entirely different set of problems against Aragon, a master of the punching technique that generates the best Olympic results. Aragon seemed to score points with any sort of punch, while Martirosyan only scored for his best hits.
Martirosyan, who was born in Armenia, staggered Aragon twice with quick shots to the head, but the Cuban piled up enough early points to hang on in a fight much closer than the score.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.