A pleasant afternoon at the boxing

The venue, which is a conference/exhibition centre in its spare time

Today I visited ExCel, the largest competition venue in the Olympics, for the preliminary rounds of the light flyweight and light welterweight boxing competitions. This was the first London 2012 event I have attended for which I have splashed out on tickets (the road cycling and live sites being free entry) and I wasn't disappointed. The venue had a vibrant, family atmosphere and the organisation of transport and security was better than expected. £50 for category C tickets may be a bit over-priced as I was sat in far from the best seat in the house, but enjoying 11 bouts of boxing between fighters from parts of the world as far flung as the Philippines, Ecuador, Uzbekistan and Hungary meant entertainment was definitely not lacking.

The ring where medals will be won and lost

Boxing at the Olympics is an interesting one as it is played with amateur rules, making it somewhat different to the professional fights that we have seen the likes of David Haye, Wladimir Klitschko and Manny Pacquiao compete in in front of huge television audiences over recent years. In professional boxing, the aim of any big match is ultimately a knockout, meaning a tournament held over a brief two-week period as it is the Olympics would be impossible to stage due to the brutality and recovery time needed after fights. In amateur men's boxing, fighters wear protective headgear and bouts consist of three three-minute rounds. It is therefore highly unlikely for any knockouts or technical knockouts so the emphasis is on connecting with clean punches to rake in the most points from the five-strong panel of judges. This also allows the boxers to compete in multiple fights in quick succession.

Just in case you forget what event you're at, it's written on the walls!

The light flyweight action, the lightest of all eleven categories with boxers weighing in at under 48kg provided some fast-paced excitement. Highlights included the explosive Filipino Mark Barriga defeating the clumsy-looking Italian Manuel Cappai 17-7 and the referee stopping the contest after just two minutes 24 seconds of the first round to award victory to Indian Devendro Singh Laishram who was giving Honduran opponent Bayron Molina Figueroa the beating of a lifetime. Laishram could well be one to watch at the tail end of the tournament next week. The biggest excitement of the day came in the third bout of the afternoon when Frenchman Jeremy Beccu took on the Kazakhstani Birzhan Zhakypov. A tensely fought encounter was poised nicely with Beccu leading 11-10 after the first two rounds. The 21-year-old from Auchel then seemed to perform the best in the final round, and was half-celebrating when the final bell rang. However, the judges thought differently and the game went to Zhakypov 18-17, leaving Beccu furious. He later said, 'I knew I had to also fight against the judges. It's really unfair. Nobody can convince me otherwise.'

Excel is hosting table tennis, wrestling, judo, weightlifting and fencing as well

The drama continued into the light welterweight category where the crowd became even more lively, particularly during the fight between American Jamel Herring and another Kazakhstani Daniyar Yeleussinov. The anti-American feeling in the British crowd, presumably amplified by the fact Great Britain are still in search of a first gold, meant that Yeleussinov received rapturous support from the crowd at the Excel, and he was roared towards a 19-9 success, comfortably overcoming Herring with some powerful precision punches. It was a shame that I didn't get to observe any British fighters in action as judging by the support for Yeleussinov and the massive cheer reserved for the announcement of a British judge, there would have been a cacophony inside the arena. Tomorrow sees Brits Luke Campbell and Anthony Joshua competing in the last 16 rounds of the bantam and super-heavyweight categories respectively. Whoever is lucky enough to have tickets should make the most of what is bound to be a riotous viewing experience.

James is off to the archery at Lord's Cricket Ground tomorrow morning so except some bow and arrow related words to appear on The Search for Excellence by late afternoon! Don't forget to follow on Twitter @TSFE2012 for the duration of the tournament and beyond...

All photos by James Phillips himself. Who needs photographers?