It's a knockout . . . boxing's back in Beijing

THE crowd roared at the first sign of blood as professional boxing last night made a comeback in China after three decades.

Staged at Beijing's Capital Gymnasium, draped with American and Chinese flags, and broadcast on television to millions of viewers, the five-bout brawl was the first professional boxing event in China since the sport was banned in 1959 after an amateur boxer was knocked out and never recovered.

''They love it,'' said boxer Keith McMurry, who lost the first bout in a seventh round knockout. It was when McMurry was knocked down by Kevin Ford in the fourth round that the audience came alive, shouting for more.

McMurry made the trip to China as a sparring partner, but ended up as a substitute for US Boxing Association champion Mike Hunter, who injured his knee after tripping on the canvas during training on Wednesday.

Hunter returned to Las Vegas, giving McMurry the opportunity to make history by fighting in the first professional bout in what Chinese promoters hope is the beginning of a new era.

Chinese press commentators last week suggested boxing may be too bloody a sport for China. But last night's spectators, shouting ''Hao! Hao!'' (bravo! bravo!), had no reservations.

''You can't say it's barbaric,'' said a man from the China Travel Service, who spent 500 yuan (about HK$695) for his ticket. ''It's not like the gladiators in ancient Rome.'' ''This is world class, so we wanted to come and enjoy the atmosphere,'' said his friend. ''It's expensive but well worthwhile.'' The crowd shouted with appreciation when heavyweight challenger David Bey, striding into the ring in a marine blue robe, was announced with his recently adopted nickname - David ''Beijing'' Bey.

But spectators, wanting a knockout, hissed and booed as Bey went into the final round against Terry ''The Terminator'' Davis, who won in a 12-round decision.

Heavyweight Mike Weaver beat a tiring Bert Cooper in a 10-round decision. A tubby Cooper stunned Weaver in the fourth and fifth rounds, but could not finish him off, and Weaver came back strongly in the past five rounds.

Cooper still won cheers from the crowd because he had Chinese and American flags embroidered on his boxing trunks.

''We have seen pro boxing on television before, but the atmosphere and power here is awesome,'' said Wang Li, a young Chinese referee for amateur boxing, which was revived seven years ago.

''We haven't really seen much pro boxing so we don't understand the rules.'' Among the other attractions of the event were eight Chinese models in white mini-dresses strutting around the ring with placards announcing each new round.

But one loser on the night was the scalper. The 18,000-seat gymnasium was short of capacity and sensing a financial loss, scalpers literally hurled themselves on cars in their desperation to unload tickets.