Cuba continues boxing dominance
Cubans take gold in light flyweight, bantamweight
FINAL MEDAL COUNT |
| G | S | B | TOT | |
| USA | 35 | 39 | 29 | 103 |
| RUS | 27 | 27 | 38 | 92 |
| CHN | 32 | 17 | 14 | 63 |
| AUS | 17 | 16 | 16 | 49 |
| GER | 14 | 16 | 18 | 48 |
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MEDAL WINNERS |
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ATHENS, Greece - Yan Bhartelemy of Cuba won the gold medal Sunday in light flyweight boxing, beating Atagun Yalcinkaya of Turkey 21-16.
Sergey Kazakov of Russia and Zou Shimming of China shared the bronze.
Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba won the gold medal in bantamweight boxing, beating Worapoj Petchkoom of Thailand 22-13.
Bahodirjon Sooltonov of Uzbekistan and Aghasi Mammadov of Azerbaijan shared the bronze.
Kindelan stops Khan’s great run
Cuban Mario Kindelan stopped the amazing run of British teenager Amir Khan by outpointing him in the lightweight final Sunday.
Khan, 17, was trying to become the youngest boxer to win an Olympic boxing gold medal in over 50 years but Kindelan had other ideas.
Nearly twice Khan’s age at 33, the defending champ relied on his experience to counter-punch and win a 30-22 decision.
Khan, who fought bravely but seemed nervous, leaves Athens with the silver medal but a bright future ahead. The Briton, who had advanced to the final with stunning displays, was ahead 4-3 after the first round and then kept taking the battle to the Cuban but it was not enough.
“I’m only 17 and I’ve got so many years in amateur boxing ahead of me,” said Khan, immediately setting his sights on the 2008 Games in Beijing.
“I want to stay amateur until I’m 22. I want to become stronger, more mature, and hopefully win gold at the next Olympics.
“Just getting to the final was brilliant. I’ve learned so much from these Olympics.”
The son of a Pakistani scrap metal dealer, who was cheered on by a vocal British contingent featuring many family members, had a chat with former heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield after the bout.
“He told me that it was a brilliant fight for a 17-year-old,” Khan reported proudly.
Also trying to become the youngest boxer to win an Olympic boxing title since American Floyd Patterson in 1952 was Turkey’s Atagun Yalcinkaya, who is six days younger than Khan.
He, too, failed, losing on points to Cuba’s Yan Bhartelemy in the light-flyweight final earlier on Sunday.
Guillermo Rigondeaux extended a fine overall performance from the mighty Cuban squad when he defended his bantamweight title by easily outpointing Thailand’s Worapoj Petchkoom.
Cuba will leave Greece with five golds, topping their tally of four from each of the last two Games.
Kazakh wins welterweight gold medal
Kazakhstan’s Bakhtiyar Artayev extended his brilliant Olympic run by beating Cuba’s Lorenzo Aragon in Sunday’s welterweight final of the Athens boxing tournament. Artayev was later named best boxer of the Athens boxing tournament on Sunday.
Artayev, who had defeated double Olympic gold medalist Oleg Saitov of Russia in the semifinals, won a 36-26 decision after a fierce contest.
Aragon, 30, making his Olympic comeback after losing in the quarterfinals in Atlanta and missing the Sydney Games, looked his age against the dynamic Kazakh.
His defeat means Cuba will leave the tournament with five golds, one more than their tally of four from each of the last two Games.
Kim Jung-joo of South Korea and Oleg Saitov of Russia shared the bronze.
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