BOXING:WE HAVE a strange relationship with the Chinese, don't we? Back in 1993 we reached the heights of xenophobic indignation when Sonia lost those World Championship relationships in Stuttgart and yesterday we gained some altitude again here in Beijing when the Kenny Egan Olympic adventure ended in tears and a hint of larceny.

Both cases were different of course but what we have to be grateful for from each is the grace of the athletes involved. Sonia back then and Kenny Egan yesterday took what befell them with a grace and a sense of class that gave us as much to be proud about as a gold medal.

It wasn't the fault of Zhang Xiaoping that China's final gold of the Games fell to him in an atmosphere of fevered partisanship and by a margin more clear than most observers reckoned he deserved. But he won. And Egan lost and it was worth making the point about the judging as the Irish did but no sense in using the outcome to fuel our national sense of persecution.

The point about amateur boxing is that it has made a genuine attempt over the past few years to clean up its act when it comes to judging its fights. You get to an Olympics, however, and as Billy Walsh pointed out, every continent brings its own politics and requires to have its own share of judges and referees at the great quadrennial jolly. So if, as the AIBA pointed out on Friday these unsatisfactory results are coming now only in five to 10 per cent of bouts, then many of these bouts will be at the Olympic Games, where the scrutiny is fierce and the judging is weak.

A few times yesterday in all the excitement Zhang would throw a punch, the roar would go up undiminished by the split second realisation that Egan had parried it with gloves or elbows and a score would be added after Zhang's name. Another roar!

"I heard that a few times" said Egan. "Nothing I could do though. He threw a few shots, he hit my elbow and I could hear the crowd going mad and obviously knew he was getting a score. I knew myself it would be a hard fight after that.

"Over the last two weeks the old body shots aren't scoring but he was throwing slaps and hitting elbows and getting scores for them. But fair play, he boxed well."

The critical round was the third where Egan's best efforts resulted in no whittling down of the two-point margin. Egan felt he was slow in the first round, which had ended with him those two points behind: "And I knew it was going to be an uphill battle."

So it went. Egan chasing the fight a little bit because he had to and getting more frustrated as each minute seeped away.

"I was hitting them, creasing him with body shots. He was getting the scores, I wasn't. There is nothing you can do. Just get in there, box and give a performance. There are five judges looking at it and it is something I can't control. He is Olympic champion and I am not. That's it. That's sport. I'm sick as a pig but that's how things go."

Asked would he use the word cheating to describe what had happened Egan graciously stepped back: "I wouldn't say cheat, no. The scoring was unfair. That's all. Deep down in my heart of hearts I feel I won the fight but that's sport at the end of the day.

"All the way back in April the whole goal was to qualify for the Games. It was a dream to get here. Then I had new targets. It was about performing internationally in the Games. With regard to my future, I haven't signed anything yet or talked about my future. Just looking for a bit of time out in training camps."

For most of the press conference Zhang Xiaoping, the new Olympic champion, had to listen to the worth of his victory being called into question. He took it all with a quiet stoicism and some diplomatic answering.

"I believe for the first round I was in the lead by two and after that actually we were pretty equal in terms of the points. I believe the referees and judges have been pretty fair. I think it was a hard, tough fight and that we are pretty equal in terms of our habits and similar in the skills we have. In the fourth he attacked me very aggressively and I was able to counter back through my footwork."

It was left to others to express the rawness of the disappointment in the Irish camp. Tony Jeffries, the big Sunderland fighter Egan had beaten in Friday's semi-final, was shocked at the decisions he saw.

"I feel for Kenny now," he said. "I think he should have got the gold medal. He should be walking around with the gold medal. The scoring hasn't been very good all the way through here, but there it was terrible.

"He was hitting Kenny on the arms which was not a scoring shot, and the crowd were going mad and they were pressing the button. A couple of times he scored for hitting Kenny's glove and when Kenny was hitting him with good clean shots I think he should have won by three or four points."

Billy Walsh, whose fatherly presence has guided this team through Beijing, was perhaps the most disappointed.

"We are gutted. Kenny is the best fighter in this division in the Games but he doesn't have the medal to prove it. Kenny was absolutely brilliant. They took it away from him. I am very emotional. I had better go before I cry."

It was that sort of day. The end of a very long journey for Walsh and his team. Silver was scant reward but Walsh knew the context. The system ain't perfect but they are trying to fix it.

"It tears the heart out of you sometimes but we have been through the process and it has been a lot worse. We couldn't get a fella qualified for years let alone be here with three medals. It is a lot better than it was," added Walsh.

A lot better than it was. How many sports in which we were represented these past few weeks can say that. Silver is silver and the honesty which earned it has no need to be diluted by regret.