Two more U.S. boxers lose at London Olympics

LONDON — The young U.S. boxers had their noses bloodied once again Thursday with lightweight Jose Ramirez and middleweight Terrell Gausha the latest to be eliminated from the Olympic tournament.

After winning its first four fights, the U.S. team has lost seven consecutive bouts. Gausha dropped a controversial 16-15 decision to veteran Vijender Singh of India, and Ramirez was outpointed by Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, 15-11.

With only two male boxers — flyweight Rau’shee Warren and welterweight Errol Spence — still alive, this U.S. group is on pace to eclipse the 2008 team as the worst of all time. American fighters came home from Beijing with one medal, a bronze, winning seven bouts and sending only two men to the quarterfinals.

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In London the U.S. has won only four of 11 bouts. And no medals appear on the horizon.

“It’s a little disappointing. We came up short,” said Ramirez, a 19-year-old from Avenal, Calif. “We’re a hungry team, a young team with not too much international experience. We came and I’m sure we all did our best.”

Ramirez started slowly against Gaibnazarov, falling behind by seven points after two rounds. And though he battled back gallantly in the final three minutes, knocking Gaibnazarov down and winning the round handily, all that did was make the final score respectable.

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“A little emotional,” Ramirez said as he struggled to hold back tears. “Just to know it’s over now. I guess the only victory I got from this is to know it’s going to open up a bigger door for the future.”

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Gausha’s loss was a bit tougher to explain.

Singh, a 26-year-old policeman, won the first round by a point, but the judges scored the next two even, though Gausha appeared to win the second round by a wide margin.

“I didn’t get the decision,” Gausha, 24, said simply. “I thought I was doing good in the fight. But at the end of the day I’ve still got to respect the judges’ decision.”

Meanwhile assistant coach Charles Leverette, who keeps promising to stop the team’s bleeding, has only two band-aids in Warren and Spence to get that done. Both are scheduled to fight Friday night.

“We’re down to the bone now,” he said.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com