Kidd gloves do talking

8:01a.m. 20th March 2006

Todd Kidd lands a great jab to the head of Kevin Bizier.

by PAUL MUNNINGS

THE Melbourne Exhibition Centres boxing hall is filled every session with supporters desperate for Australian success.

They had little to cheer about yesterday until former Shamrock boxer Todd Kidd entered the ring for his light-welterweight bout.

Kidd showed gold medal potential in beating Canadian Kevin Bizier 30-13 in their second-round contest, ending a run of two losses for the Australian squad yesterday.

After a steady first round which went 4-2 in his favour, a much faster Kidd launched a succession of rapid punches against Bizier late in round two to build a 14-5 lead.

He again totalled 10 points in the final round where he was hit with a two-point penalty for holding - a setback which only seemed to urge him into more action.

It has been a difficult draw which has confronted the former Caboolture boxer.

He had to beat a Manchester Games medallist in round one, then the Canadian who was a convincing victor in his first bout and his next opponent will be Englishman James Russan who flattened his Botswanan opponent early in the second round in the bout. The winner of their quarter-final, which shapes as one of the contests of the tournament, will become the outright gold medal favourite.

Kidd ran past the waiting media last night, not wanting to offer a comment on his performance.

He's adopting the "actions speak louder than words" philosophy.

"He really just wants to focus on what he's doing," Australian team manager Phil Goodes said.

"He wants to keep a lid on things at the moment."

The Australian team, not surprisingly, thinks Kidd has "definite medal potential".

Shamrock flyweight Brad Hore is determined to improve on his Manchester 2002 performance when he starts his Melbourne competition against lanky Englishman Don Broadhurst this evening.

Hore was beaten in the opening round at Manchester and again at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

He gained a first-round bye in Melbourne and needs to win two bouts to earn at least a bronze medal.

"We're expecting pretty good things from Brad. There's no reason not to," Goodes said.

Hore's fight is scheduled to start at 5.30pm (Qld time).