Men’s Light Flyweight
Joahnys Argilagos (Cuba) was the favourite and made his way through to the medal rounds including defeating Galal Yafai (Great Britain). In the semi-final, he came up against Yurbejen Martinez (Colombia) who benefitted from Paddy Barnes (Ireland) being upset by Samuel Carmona (Spain). Martinez overcame the favoured Cuban and would come up against Hasanboy Dusmatov (Uzbekistan) who won his way through to the final unanimously with wins over Birzhan Zhakypov (Kazakhstan) and Nico Hernandez (United States). Dusmatov defended intelligently, avoiding the attacks of Martinez to take the gold medal. Dusmatov was awarded the best boxer of the tournament, having barely lost a round.
🥇Hasanboy Dusmatov 🇺🇿
🥈Yurbejen Martinez 🇨🇴
🥉Nico Hernandez 🇺🇸
🥉Joahnys Argilagos 🇨🇺
Men’s Flyweight
Flyweight looked like an incredibly tough division of call as there was not a standout entering the tournament. This rang true as the top half of the draw saw the gold and bronze medalist from the 2015 World Championship eliminated in Elvin Mamishzada (Azerbaijan) and Mohamed Flissi (Algeria). It was another Uzbekistani in Shakhobidin Zoirov (Uzbekistan) who would make his way through to the final, beating Yoel Finol (Venezuela) by unanimous decision. Misha Aloyan (Russia) would be the finalist from the other half of the draw, winning three consecutive decisions including in the semi-final against Hu Jianguan (China). Jianguan had impressively defeated Yosvany Veitia in the quarter-final. The final saw Zoirov win another unanimous decision but the medals would only be settled when Aloyan was disqualified after testing positive for tuaminoheptane.
🥇Shakhobidin Zoirov 🇺🇿
🥈Yoel Finol 🇻🇪
🥉Hu Jianguan 🇨🇳
Men’s Bantamweight
One of the stronger weight divisions in 2016 was the bantamweight division. It was headlined by Michae Conlan (Ireland) and 2015 World Champion and reigning Olympic Champion Robeisy Ramirez (Cuba). The two-man were on opposite sides of the draw. It was no guarantee the two would meet, given the strength in depth. Ramirez made his way through with great wins over Zhang Jiawei (China) and even more impressively over Murodjon Akhmadaliev (Uzbekistan) who is already a professional world champion. Conlan couldn’t live up to his side of the bargain, albeit controversially as he lost to Vladimir Nikitin (Russia). It stemmed one of the more memorable moments of the Olympics as Conlan put his middle finger up at all the judges before launching a scathing attack on AIBA. Nikitin was so beaten up he could not appear in the semi-final, leading to Shakur Stevenson (United States) receiving a bye to the final, where he was defeated by Ramirez.
🥇Robeisy Ramirez 🇨🇺
🥈Shakur Stevenson 🇺🇸
🥉Vladimir Nikitin 🇷🇺
🥉Murodjon Akhmadaliev 🇺🇿
Men’s Lightweight
This saw another of the great stories from the Rio Olympics as Robson Conceicao (Brazil) become the first Brazilian boxing champion after growing up a street hawker. He made his way to the final by defeating Anvar Yunusov (Tajikistan), Hurshid Tojibaev (Uzbekistan) and Lazaro Alvarez (Cuba). The other side of the draw featured Teofimo Lopez (Honduras) who has gone on to be a star, but he didn’t make the second round, losing to Sofiane Oumiha (France). The Frenchman also defeated former World Champion Amnat Ruenroeng (Thailand) by stoppage, Albert Selimov (Azerbaijan) and Dorjnyambuugiin Otgondalai (Mongolia). In the final, a cut troubled Conceicao but he managed to overcome it to win the decision and the gold medal.
🥇Robson Conceicao 🇧🇷
🥈Sofiane Oumiha 🇫🇷
🥉Lazaro Alvarez 🇨🇺
🥉Dorjnyambuugiin Otgondalai 🇲🇳
Men’s Light Welterweight
Perhaps the division with the least standout boxers, it made it an open competition. Neither of the top two seeds made the final. Vitaly Dunaytsev (Russia) got through to the semi-finals but was defeated on a split decision by Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (Uzbekistan). Yasniel Toledo (Cuba) was soundly defeated by Lorenzo Sotomayor (Azerbaijan) after only edging by Pat McCormack (Great Britain). In the semi-final, Sotomayor came up against Artem Harutyunyan (Germany) winning a unanimous decision. In the final, it was a close run thing with both men having arguments to the decision. Gaibnazarov won the split decision but the slight majority seemed to edge Sotomayor.
🥇Fazliddin Gaibnazarov 🇺🇿
🥈Lorenzo Sotomayor 🇦🇿
🥉Artem Harutyunyan 🇩🇪
🥉Vitaly Dunaytsev 🇨🇦
Men’s Welterweight
Another division which looks incredibly strong now. The number one prospect and considered a potential superstar in waiting was Mohammed Rabii (Morocco). He worked through the rounds to the semi-finals, although was perhaps given an easier path than expected after Rayton Okwiri (Kenya) beat Andrey Zamkovoy (Russia). The other seed in that half of the draw was Roniel Iglesias (Cuba) who was the reigning Olympic Champion but was defeated by Shakhram Giyasov (Uzbekistan). On the other half of the draw, Parviz Baghirov (Azerbaijan) was upset by Souleymane Cissokho (France) whilst Daniyar Yeleussinov (Kazakhstan) comfortably came through his quarter. The semi-finals saw one upset as Giyasov overcame Rabii whilst Yeleussinov made his way through. In the final, it was the slick boxing of Yeleussinov that overcome Giyasov despite a cut which stopped the bout from completing the nine minutes.
🥇Daniyar Yeleussinov 🇰🇿
🥈Shakhram Giyasov 🇺🇿
🥉Souleymane Cissokho 🇫🇷
🥉Mohammed Rabii 🇲🇦
Men’s Middleweight
This battle between the top two seeds did come to fruition as Arlen Lopez (Cuba) would go on to meet Bektemir Melikuziev (Uzbekistan). Lopez was dominant on his way to the final, overcoming Zoltan Harcsa (Hungary) by stoppage, Christian Mbilli Assomo (France) and Kaman Shakhsuvarly (Azerbaijan) unanimously. Shakhsuvarly had an almighty battle with Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (Kazakhstan) in the quarter-final. Michael O’Reilly (Ireland) was disqualified before the tournament as a sample tested positive for a banned substance. This left an easier path to a bronze medal which Misael Rodriguez (Mexico) took advantage of. He would go no further, as Bektemir Melikuziev bulldozed him. Lopez was too clever and boxed his way to a unanimous decision.
🥇Arlen Lopez 🇨🇺
🥈Bektemir Melikuziev 🇺🇿
🥉Misael Rodriguez 🇲🇽
🥉Kamran Shakhsuvarly 🇦🇿
Men’s Light Heavyweight
Another strong division. Julio Cesar La Cruz (Cuba) is arguably the best amateur fighter of the 2010s and flew through his quarter whilst Michel Borges (Brazilian) defeated professional Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (Cameroon). Joe Ward (Ireland) was expected to be his semi-final opponent but was defeated by Carlos Andres Mina (Ecuador), who then was stopped by Mathieu Bauderlique (France). Elshod Rasulov (Uzbekistan) was expected to do well but was stopped by Joshua Buatsi (Great Britain) in the second round. He made his way through to the semi-finals before coming up against Adilbek Niyazymbetov (Kazakhstan) who outboxed him to a decision. In the final, it came down to La Cruz and Niyazymbetov, where La Cruz outboxed the Kazakh with his impressive defensive skills.
🥇Julio Cesar La Cruz 🇨🇺
🥈Adilbek Niyazymbetov 🇰🇿
🥉Joshua Buatsi 🇬🇧
🥉Mathieu Bauderlique 🇫🇷
Men’s Heavyweight
Three of the four seeds from heading into the event came out with the medals. Evgeny Tishchenko (Russia), Vasily Levit (Kazakhstan) and Erislandy Savon (Cuba) all relatively cruised through. The other seed was Abdulkadir Abdullayev (Azerbaijan) who came up against Rustam Tulganov (Uzbekistan). Tulganov upset him to guarantee a medal. He would go no further though as Tishchenko beat him whilst Levit overcame the fancied Cuban in Erislandy Savon. In the final Tishchenko would use his big frame whilst Levit would use continuous pressure and stalk. Many presumed Levit to be the winner, but it was Tishchenko who got the decision. It was roundly booed by the neutral Brazilian audience and was one of the decisions that led to the controversy about boxing at the Olympic Games.
🥇Evgeny Tishchenko 🇷🇺
🥈Vasily Levit 🇰🇿
🥉Erislandy Savon 🇨🇺
🥉Rustam Tulganov 🇺🇿
Men’s Super Heavyweight
This time it was the four men who were the four seeds making it to the medal stage. The bottom half of the draw was filled with stoppages whilst it also had one of the most anticipated clashes in the round of 16. Ivan Dychko (Kazakhstan) had medalled at the three most recent major international tournaments whilst Magomedrasul Majidov (Azerbaijan) was world champion in 2011 and 2013 before missing the 2015 tournament. Dychko would get the win this time before defeating Efe Ajagba (Nigeria). In the semi-final, he came up against Joe Joyce (Great Britain) who beat him with his pressure. In the final would be his cross-channel rival and world champion Tony Yoka (France) who had edged Filip Hrgovic (Croatia) by a split decision. It was another controversial final though. Many seemed to think Joe Joyce had won but it was Tony Yoka who would get the split decision.
🥇Tony Yoka 🇫🇷
🥈Joe Joyce 🇬🇧
🥉Filip Hrgovic 🇭🇷
🥉Ivan Dychko 🇰🇿
Women’s Flyweight
Reigning gold medalist and favourite Nicola Adams (Great Britain), cruised through the tournament winning all unanimous decisions to take gold. She beat Sarah Ourahmoune (France) in the final, Ren Cancan (China) and Tetyana Kob (Ukraine) in the rounds before. Peamwilai Laopeam (Thailand) went out in the quarter-final, losing to Ingrit Valencia (Colombia).
🥇Nicola Adams 🇬🇧
🥈Sarah Ourahmoune 🇫🇷
🥉Ren Cancan 🇨🇳
🥉Ingrit Valencia 🇨🇴
Women’s Lightweight
Heading into the tournament, the favourite was Katie Taylor (Ireland). She only lasted one bout though, losing a split decision to Mira Potkonen (Finland). The winner would come from the other side of the draw in Estelle Mossely (France). She had a decision victory over Irma Testa (Italy), stopped Anastasia Belyakova (Russia) and finally got a split decision over Yin Junhua (China) in the final.
🥇Estelle Mossely 🇫🇷
🥈Yin Junhua 🇨🇳
🥉Anastasia Belyakova 🇷🇺
🥉Mira Potkonen 🇫🇮
Women’s Middleweight
Once again, the favourite was dominant. Claressa Shields (United States), who only had one loss as an amateur, won every fight by unanimous decision. She also had the less intriguing side of the draw, beating Dariga Shakimova (Kazakhstan) in the semi-final. Arguably the two other best boxers in the weight came up against each other in the quarter-final as Nouchka Fontijn (Netherlands) beat Savannah Marshall (Great Britain). She won and then also beat Li Qian (China) to make the final.
🥇Claressa Shields 🇺🇸
🥈Nouchka Fontijn 🇳🇱
🥉Li Qian 🇨🇳
🥉Dariga Shakimova 🇰🇿
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