No one answer to explain why boxer Mary Spencer lost her first bout at London Olympics

There will be finger pointing and lots of questions asked.

Everyone will have an opinion on why three-time boxing world champion Mary Spencer, the woman expected to punch her way to a medal at the London Olympics, was eliminated in her first bout Monday.

Spencer lost to China's Jinzi Li 17-14. It was her third loss in a row at a major competition. A win would have put the 27-year-old middleweight from Wiarton, Ont., into the medal round.

[Slideshow: Spencer's disappointing day]

You can question the coaching. Maybe Spencer over trained. The fight's strategy could have been wrong. There might have been too much hype surrounding the woman who signed as a spokesmodel for CoverGirl and was featured in a vignette produced by the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Spencer also simply could have been beaten by a fighter who handled the pressure better and wanted to win more.

"I came here wanting to win gold,'' Spencer told reporters in London. "So having a bunch of other people telling me I can definitely go there and medal, that's no pressure if I already expected that of myself.

"She (Li) picked up her pace and got her lead and it's hard to get back. The last three tournaments I have been upset. I knew it was going to be tough. I'm not saying it's easy, but it was tougher than I thought."

Spencer looked listless and fatigued against Li. The Chinese fighter used a frustrating, awkward clinching style that prevented Spencer from scoring points on a consistent basis.

Daniel Trepanier, Boxing Canada's high performance director, said Spencer didn't adjust to Li's style.

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"She forgot to bring her jab to the fight and that was probably the major key for the result,'' he told the Toronto Sun. "Mary fought the fight of the Chinese. She didn't fight her fight.

Spencer took responsibility for the loss.

"It's not the boxing you practice for,'' she said. "You practice for someone who's going to jab and that kind of stuff. But at the same time this is amateur boxing. This is tournament boxing and you have to prepare for anybody and some people are going to fight like that.

"So that was my fault for not being prepared for that situation."

There might have been too many people giving Spencer advice. Boxing Canada, using money from Own the Podium, paid to bring her long-time coach Charlie Stewart from the Windsor Boxing Club to London.

In the days leading up to the fight Sylvain Gagnon, the head coach of the boxing team, worked inside the ring with her. But when during Monday's bout Stewart gave most of the instructions between rounds.

[Related: Is success from Vancouver Games carrying over to London?]

Gagnon later suggested Spencer was out-coached by the Chinese corner.

"I could say also we got over-coached by the other side,'' he said.

Not surprisingly, Spencer defended Stewart.

"He did his job,'' she said. "I didn't pull off my end.

"He was absolutely fantastic. He always has been. He goes far and beyond what is expected from any coach, especially a coach who's not getting paid a single penny. He goes further than he needs to, to make sure that I'm able to do what I need to do in there. Props to Charlie because I couldn't have gotten here without him."

Stewart said Spencer was unusually nervous before the bout.

"She doesn't usually tell me she's nervous or anything like that, but she did tell me this time," said Stewart. "She doesn't usually say those things before fights.

"Mary has hand speed, and in my opinion, she didn't use it. She usually fights better than that.''

Spencer needed a backdoor to even get into the Olympics.

[Slideshow: Inspirational moments from London 2012]

She lost her opening bout against Sweden's Anna Rosalie Laurell at the women's world boxing championships in China. Two automatic Olympic spots were available to be won by boxers from the Americas at the championships.

Spencer got her ticket to London when the International Olympic Committee's Tripartite Commission decided to give her the lone wild card berth in the 75-kilogram class.

Even before the world championships Spencer lost to American Claressa Shields.

Ruth Spencer, Mary's mother, said the losing and waiting took its toll.

"I think there was a lot of pressure,'' Ruth said.

Spencer's true measure will come in the years leading up to the 2016 Olympics. She will have a chance to show what she learned from the loss in the London. She must manage the circumstances that surround her and deal with the hype and pressure.

"I love this,'' Spencer said. "I love boxing and I still want a gold medal.

"I'm going to stick to it.''

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