SOME of the world's greatest boxers have fallen at the hands of a man named Ali - but far fewer have been halted by the elbow of a man of the same name.

That though, was the fate that befell Pontypool and Panteg fighter Tony Doherty (pictured) in his welterweight quarter-final against Namibian Ali Nuumembe in Manchester yesterday.

After disposing of England's gold medal favourite Daniel Happe in the last round, Doherty looked set to reach Saturday's final.

But those hopes were dashed just 72 seconds into the first round of yesterday's bout when an errant elbow from the African left him with a cut on his right eyelid which, the ringside doctor decided, was bad enough to warrant a stoppage.

The scheduled four-rounder had barely started. In fact the computer scores stood at just 1-1, when the clash occurred.

Doherty appeared to slip as he threw a left hand and as he recovered was caught, intentionally or not, by the wayward elbow.

Speaking shortly after the stoppage, an understandably emotional Doherty blasted: "I can't believe this outcome.

"I've trained so hard and now it's all gone down the drain.I never lost, I beat the favourite and everyone knows I'm the best in this division.

"This is the first time I've ever lost on a cut, I just cant believe it, he was made for me. "I've put my whole career into this, my family are here and look what happens, if the elbow was deliberate he should have been disqualified, that's the boxing game though" . Earlier in the day, the Malaysian team had lodged a formal complaint about the scoring of Tuesday's lightweight contest in which Cwmbran's Jamie Arthur stopped Adnan Jusoh on the 15 points difference rule.

Their argument was the five ringside judges had unfairly favoured Arthur to stop their fighter meeting local hero Andy Morris in the final.

Malaysian boxing coach Adun Pasu said: "They were afraid Adnan would be too strong for Morris and they want him to win gold".

Meanwhile, an official statement confirmed that Cwmbran heavyweight Lee Milsjen, who was at the centre of a security scare at the athletes village, has been allowed to return home.