Saunders well beaten by Cuban

The 18-year-old was well beaten 13-6 by his opponent who was never behind and exhibited a slick, counter-punching style which is expected to earn him the gold medal.

Saunders said: "The points didn't go for me. In the last round I knew I wouldn't get the decision unless I knocked him out. The scoring here is so bad for an Olympic Games. It's unbelievable."

He added: "I felt my performance was exceptional, but I've had better days. I felt I should have had six or seven points for my body shots, but they're not scoring body shots. You might as well do fencing, not boxing, if they're going to do that."

Saunders fell three points behind at the end of the first round but clawed his way back to level with some fine right hands, only for the Cuban to sneak back in front 5-4 at the half-way stage.

The Cuban's accuracy helped him rebuild his lead in the third round and as Saunders desperately chased the shots to haul himself back into contention, the favourite began to pull away.

Sunderland light-heavyweight Tony Jeffries squeezed through to the quarter-finals with a countback victory over Colombia's Eleider Alvarez and now stands one win from a guaranteed medal.

Jeffries prevailed after a gruelling contest against the 2007 Pan-American champion which ended 5-5. Jeffries got the nod based on the total number of times each judge marked a scoring punch.

Having received a first round bye, Jeffries admitted the long build-up had been difficult saying: "It was a horrible fight but the build-up was so long and I'm just glad I got rid of this pressure.

"I've been spurred on by all the messages of support I've received here in Beijing and back home. I've only ever dreamed of winning an Olympic medal since I was six years old, and I'm so close now."