Disappointed Australian men's boxing coach Don Abnett says he has little choice but to accept the surprise decision to deny Damien Hooper a seeding in the Olympics light heavyweight division.
Hooper's path to a possible medal was made tougher on Friday when he was left out of the seeds despite coming into the London Games ranked third in the world in the category.
Abnett was at a loss to explain the ruling, admitting surprise another medal contender in German Enrico Kolling was also not among the seeds.
"We were told it (the seedings) would be clarified before the draw of each weight division ... it doesn't give us much chance to protest or question it," Abnett told AAP.
"I was surprised, I don't know the reason behind it but it's pretty hard to fight it.
"Three weeks ago he was ranked two and they put him to three.
"Obviously it's important to us because if they (are seeded) and get the bye in the first round it gives us nearly an extra week to prepare, so it alters our training around a little bit."
Australian welterweight Cameron Hammond will fight Moustapha Abdoulaye Hima on Sunday, while Abnett is particularly excited about Luke Jackson's hopes not only against China's Qiang Liu, but also his chances of progressing deep into the lightweight division.
"I'm quietly confident about that fight," Jackson said.
"In the world championships Jacko got beat by the silver medallist (Cuba's Yasnier Toledo Lopez) by one point.
"If Jacko can get through his first fight and comes up against Cuba again, if I was the Cuban I'd be a little bit worried.
"I thought Jacko should have got that fight (at the world championships) and he's improved a little since then."
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