By STEVE BUFFERY -- Toronto Sun
  SYDNEY -- The Canadian boxing team took one on the chin early this morning and the Olympic Games are over in shockingly quick fashion for light-heavyweight Troy Ross.

 Midway through the third round in his fight against Nigerian Jegbefumere Albert, Ross crumpled to the canvas after being nailed with a powerful straight left.

 AGGRESSIVE

 The score at that point was 7-7, with Ross coming on aggressively after trailing 4-2 coming into the third round.

 The short, crisp left was right on the button. Ross lay prone before slowly rising to his feet, with Turkish referee Alp Bartu giving him an eight count. Before reaching the count of eight, Bartu stopped the fight at the 1:34 mark.

 The crowd responded with boos.

 Ross stood stunned in the middle of the ring, his amateur career over in the most cruel way imaginable.

 "It's unbelievable what happened," Ross said. "People get knocked down, they get up and win fights. This is not supposed to happen.

 "I clearly went down, yes. But there's no reason for the referee to stop the fight unless he thought I was truly hurt. Which I wasn't," the Brampton sportswear designer said.

 "I sat there, I let him get up to five counts (before getting up) because I knew I had to eight. He never asked me anything, if I was okay, if I was fine. It's unbelievable.

 "I went in to win a gold medal but the referee gave it away."

 In amateur boxing, the referee's primary concern is the health of the fighters. But most observers on hand, including the majority of fans inside the Sydney Convention Centre, thought Bartu was premature in ending the proceedings.

 "This is boxing. If you can't take a shot and get back up again like Troy can, what's the point of being in there?" Canadian team manager Hank Summers said.

 NOT EVEN HURT

 "He wasn't hurt. I've seen Troy take a lot worse than that kind of stuff."

 Team captain Mike Strange called the referee's decision "a disgrace."

 Strange felt Bartu should have at least tried to converse with Ross and ask him if he was all right to continue. Bartu apparently came to the conclusion that the Canadian wasn't fit to continue without asking Ross to raise his arms to his chest or to speak, as many officials do.

 "That's a huge shock because Troy has an unbelievable chin," Strange said. "You hardly ever see him get hurt in a boxing match. They're stopping it way too early in this tournament. We came in as a team figuring Troy probably had our best shot of winning a medal."

 However, against fellow southpaw Albert, Ross remained flat-footed in the first two rounds and revved it up in the third after realizing he was down.

 Ross, 25, is considered pound-for-pound the hardest puncher on the Canadian team and excellent pro material.

 Reportedly the fighter has a deal worked out with the American promotion firm, Main Events.