NEW DELHI; That Akhil Kumar missed out on his first-ever Olympic medal has only his Moldovan opponent Veaceslav Gojan to be blamed, who had the best defence among the assembly of boxers in Beijing Olympics, feels the Indians physio Heath Matthews.

"I must say the Moldovan had the best defence among all the boxers in Beijing. He never dropped his guard during the bout," Matthews said.

"On the other hand, Akhil is a very fearless boxer and he plays with his guards down. But thats his style. Technically there was no problem," he said.

Matthews, who earlier worked with tennis stars Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi before being associated with the boxers, was all praise for Akhil saying he is a braveheart and he did not let the spirits of other boxers dampen after his loss.

"He is a very emotional person and was really affected by the quarterfinal loss but put up a brave face to keep the spirits up in the camp. He said so what if I have lost, Jitender and Vijender have to accomplish the task and he kept himself upbeat for them," he said.

Matthews predicted a great 2012 Olympics for Akhil, who has come a long way from Athens, where he had lost in the first round.

"He always had the confidence and he now has the required experience and that made all the difference. In 2012,he can definitely go for the gold," he said.

"Things are looking upward for the Indian boxers as you can see the way Jitender (51 kg) fought. It is one of the best Olympics for any boxer," Matthews added.

"Earlier, we were seventh in the Asian rankings and now we are fourth and if we had not missed these two bronze we would have been on top. India has massive talent pool in boxing," said the South African who is employed with the Mittal Champions Trust.

Asked if he would be there to accompany the boxers in London Games, he said, "thats the plan so far. Lets see how things go from here."

However, at the moment he wants to take a break after a four-month toil.

"Its been a hectic four months now and I want to go home," he said.

Cuban coach Blas Iglesias Fernandez said Indians were never lacking in the skills at the world level but it was here low confidence to go for the kill which held them back till before Beijing.

"They were always at par with other boxers in the world in technique but they lacked confidence. Psychology was the difference between the Athens and the Beijing lot," he said.

"Akhil, Jitender and Vijender were the ready for anything in the ring and after this (bronze) medal their confidence will be further boosted.

"Even the semifinal bout between Vijender and the Cuban boxer (Emelio Correa Bayeaux) was anyones game. So breaking the barrier was important," he said.
Source : DNA