& micro;BOXING Estrada pounded by Cuban Lopez Nunez

XATHENS, Greece -- Jason Estrada shrugged his shoulders and attempted to convince his questioners that an embarrassing Olympic loss was no big deal.
His coach stared at the ground a few feet away, pondering everything that's wrong with U.S. amateur boxing.
Cuban super heavyweight Michel Lopez Nunez pounded Estrada 21-7 in their quarterfinal bout Monday night, leaving just two U.S. fighters alive in the nation's worst showing at the Olympics in 56 years.
Estrada's collapse was the latest disappointment for coach Basheer Abdullah, who arrived in Athens hoping to restore the American program's reputation.
The United States' one-time dominance of Olympic boxing has eroded due to inexperienced teams, computer judging standards and the lure of pro contracts.
Perhaps Estrada already had dollar signs in his eyes when he started slow and got slower in the biggest fight of his career. Despite Abdullah's warnings against timid starts, Estrada seemed reluctant to mix it up with Lopez Nunez.
The American team's fattest boxer eventually resorted to holding -- a strategy that garnered boos, but certainly not a victory. With six seconds to go, Lopez Nunez broke Estrada's embrace and shoved him limply against the ropes.
The 261-pound Estrada was finished, and he didn't seem to care -- a fact he confirmed a few moments later.
"If I'm going to lose, I'm going to lose getting hit as little as possible," said Estrada, from Providence, R.I. "I'd rather not get hit at all. This is long-term. This is just one part of my life. There's a lot more boxing to go."
Along with most of his teammates, Estrada will turn pro soon. He fancies himself a future heavyweight contender -- but to Abdullah, the coach of the U.S. Army's boxing team, Estrada doesn't sound like a champ.
"It discouraged me. I'm disappointed that he had that type of attitude," Abdullah said. "Somehow we have to find a way to make athletes take pride in representing the United States. [Heavyweight contender] Vassily Jirov said it best: Our biggest enemy is our money."
Associated Press