Men’s 51kg
One of the weight divisions, where the draw saw the likely gold medal match come early. Hasanboy Dusmatov (Uzbekistan) would overcome Saken Bibossonov (Kazakhstan) in the quarter finals in one of the better bouts at Paris. Billal Bennama (France) would be his opposition in the final, making his way through some tight bouts including 3-2 split decision wins over Roscoe Hill (United States) and Alejandro Claro (Cuba). In the final, Dusmatov was too good with his punch-picking, taking a clear decision. Amit Panghal (India) was one of the favourites to win a medal, but the draw would see him in a nightmare matchup with Pascal Chinyemba (Zambia) who was able to get the decision win. He would lose in the following round to Daniel Varela de Pina (Cape Verde), sealing their first ever Olympic medal. The second quarter was arguably the weakest one and Junior Alcantara (Dominican Republic) got the bronze medal.
🥇Hasanboy Dusmatov 🇺🇿
🥈Billal Bennama 🇫🇷
🥉Daniel Varela de Pina 🇨🇻
🥉Junior Alcantara 🇩🇴
I got the final correct. I predicted Chinyemba to upset Panghal but did not see him being beating. Alcantara was able to get the other bronze and I did point him out as a possible contender
Men’s 57kg
The shocks would come early in the division as Makhmud Sabrykhan (Kazakhstan) would go out to Jose Quiles(Spain). Jamahl Harvey (United States) would edge through against rival Luiz Gabriel Oliveira (Brazil) but would instead lose to Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu (Kyrgyzstan). In the semi final he would come up against Javier Ibanez(Bulgaria), who had too much guile for Aider Abduraimov (Ukraine). Most scored the bout for Ibanez but it was Uulu who get the nod to come up against Abdumalik Khalokov (Uzbekistan). Khalokov would take the win on all the scorecards, as he did throughout the competition, taking gold.
🥇Abdumalik Khalokov 🇺🇿
🥈Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu 🇰🇬
🥉Javier Ibanez 🇧🇬
🥉Charlie Senior 🇦🇺
I tried to pick a few surprises in Abduraimov and Sabrykhan here but neither managed it.
Men’s 63.5kg
The best story in the division came as Erislandy Alvarez (Cuba) shone, on his way through to the final. His willingness to trade endured him to the French fans. On the way to the final he overwhelmed Lasha Guruli (Georgia) in the semi final. He then produced a magnificent fight with Sofiane Oumiha (France) in the final, winning a split decision. Oumiha made his way to the final quite comfortably, beating Wyatt Sanford (Canada) who upset Ruslan Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) in the quarter final.
🥇Erislandy Alvarez 🇨🇺
🥈Sofiane Oumiha 🇫🇷
🥉Lasha Guruli 🇬🇪
🥉Wyatt Sanford 🇨🇦
The Alvarez on film wouldn’t have won this but he seemed to have come on leaps and bounds. I was surprised that Sanford beat Abdullaev but stylistically it was a tough matchup for him.
Men’s 71kg
This looked open and when number one seed Aslanbek Shymbergenov (Kazakhstan) was beaten in round one by Zeyad Ishaish (Jordan) it looked even more so. He would beat Sekon Okazawa (Japan) in a controversial decision before losing to Lewis Richardson (Great Britain) who won two split decisions to make the semi final. He lost on a split decision in the semi finals to Marco Verde (Mexico) who also beat Nishant Dev (India). In the final he went down to the classy Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev (Uzbekistan) who had also beat Omari Jones (United States) and Nikolai Terteryan (Denmark) with his impressive reflexes and movement.
🥇Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev 🇺🇿
🥈Marco Verde 🇲🇽
🥉Omari Jones 🇺🇸
🥉Lewis Richardson 🇬🇧
I think I tried too pick a few surprised in one of the more open divisions. My first draw before the draw I predicted Muydinkhujaev. I got cold feet with the draw, wanting to predict Terteryan to make the medal and watching him being hurt. I should have stuck to my guns. I also felt with a tough run Shymbergenov would lose but couldn’t work out who would beat him.
Men’s 80kg
The anticipated showdown between Arlen Lopez (Cuba) and Oleksandr Khyzniak (Ukraine) was again ruined by the draw, being only for the bronze medal. The pressure of Khyzniak would wear down Lopez and he got a split decision win despite losing the first round 4-1. Nurbek Oralbay (Kazakhstan) came through the other side of the draw with a split decision win over the awkward Cristian Pinales (Dominican Republic). In the finals, it was again the pressure of Khyzniak which overcame the punch picking of the Kazakh.
🥇Oleksandr Khyzniak 🇺🇦
🥈Nurbek Oralbay 🇰🇿
🥉Arlen Lopez 🇨🇺
🥉Cristian Pinales 🇩🇴
I pretty much nailed this. I thought the winner of Pinales v Jongjoho could beat Tanglaithan and win a medal but picked the wrong man
Men’s 92kg
The draw was turned on its head in the opening round. Julio Cesar La Cruz (Cuba) lost a contentious decision to Loren Alfonso (Azerbaijan). Other favourite Aziz Abbés Mouhiidine (Italy) perhaps was dealt a harsher hand as he went down to Lazizbek Mullojonov (Azerbaijan). Those two would make the final and it was Mullojonov who won a clear decision. The other medalists came from Davlat Boltaev (Tajikstan) who was too experienced for Jack Marley(Ireland) and Emmanuel Reyes (Spain) who was too smart for Victor Schelatraete (Belgium).
🥇Lazizbek Mullojonov 🇺🇿
🥈Loren Alfonso 🇦🇿
🥉Davlat Boltaev 🇹🇯
🥉Emmanuel Reyes 🇪🇸
Given my result, I feel like this prediction wasn’t too bad. I felt the winner of Mullojonov vs Mouhiidine would win gold and they did. I still think the Italian deserved the decision. I also said La Cruz was not as strong and losing to Alfonso proved it.
Men’s +92kg
Another victim to the draw was Teromoana Junior (Australia) who had to come up against Bakhodir Jalolov(Uzbekistan). Despite being able to run him closest, he still lost a decision, fading in the third round. The Uzbek would take gold, winning all bouts by unanimous decision without seemingly pushing himself. Ayoub Ghadfa(Spain) was the man who made the final but I felt he got lucky against Djamili-Dini Aboudou Moindze (France) who dropped him in the semi final. Elsewhere Nelvie Tiafack (Germany) impressed to win bronze before losing to Jalolov.
🥇Bakhodir Jalolov 🇺🇿
🥈Ayoub Ghadfa 🇪🇸
🥉Djamili-Dini Aboudou Moindze 🇫🇷
🥉Nelvie Tiafack 🇩🇪
Jalolov was an obvious favourite, it was about picking who would make the medal rounds with him. Ghadfa was a big shock to me, whilst Tiafack was on my shortlist.
Women’s -50kg
The top quarter always looked tough but Wu Yu (China) came through it relatively easily. Nazym Kyzaibay (Kazakhstan) would upset Ingrit Valencia (Colombia) to get to the semi final. Buse Naz Cakiroglu (Turkey) made her way through to the final rather easily, not dropping a scorecard in any of her bouts. Yu would beat Kyzaibay in the semi final and her fierce attacks were too much for Cakiroglu in the final.
🥇Wu Yu 🇨🇳
🥈Buse Naz Cakiroglu 🇹🇷
🥉Nazym Kyzaibay 🇰🇿
🥉Aira Villegas 🇵🇭
Yu was the obvious name to come through the top half but given its difficulty I tried to pick a surprise. Elsewhere there were a few surprises in who made the medal rounds.
Women’s -54kg
It was another tough top quarter and Chang Yuan (China) was able to upset Stanmira Petrova (Bulgaria) to go through. In the semi-final she would come up against Pang Chol-mi (North Korea) who relatively cruised through. It was probably the closest bout of the division, with Yuan winning a 3-2 split decision. The bottom quarter was weakest and Im Ae-ji (South Korea) came through that. She would face Hatice Akbas (Turkey) in the semi final who edged Charley Davison (Great Britain) on a split. Akbas would make the final where she lost to the volume of Yuan.
🥇Chang Yuan 🇨🇳
🥈Hatice Akbas 🇹🇷
🥉Im Ae-ji 🇰🇷
🥉Pang Chol-mi 🇰🇵
Again, the original draft featured Akbas winning gold but I changed my mind with a tough draw. The other tough quarter was the first and I saw that wrong.
Women’s -57kg
The big shock came early as Irme Testa (Italy) lost to Xu Zichun (China) on a split. One of the stories of the games would be the victory of Lin Yu-ting (Taiwan) after she was accused of having failed gender tests. She did not lose on a single score card, beating Svetlana Staneva (Bulgaria), Esra Yildiz (Turkey) and Julia Szeremeta (Poland).
🥇Lin Yu-ting 🇹🇼
🥈Julia Szeremeta 🇵🇱
🥉Esra Yildiz 🇹🇷
🥉Nesthy Petecio 🇵🇭
This changed once Testa went out. I mentioned both Szeremeta and Yildiz as potential challengers in their quarters but didnt pick either
Women’s -60kg
It felt like the final actually took place in the semi-final as Kellie Harrington (Ireland) beat Beatriz Ferreira (Brazil). Again, it was a close bout and I preferred the work of the Brazilian. Aside from that wins over Yang Wenlu (China) and Angie Valdes (Colombia) were relatively straight forward.
🥇Kellie Harrington 🇮🇪
🥈Yang Wenlu 🇨🇳
🥉Beatriz Ferreira 🇧🇷
🥉Wu Shih-yi 🇹🇼
I did think the semi should have gone the other way but the real shame was that it was not a final.
Women’s -66kg
The biggest boxing story of the Olympics was Imane Khelif (Algeria). Accused of failing a gender test, she would beat first opponent by Angela Carini (Italy) by abandonment. The wins would continue to pile up as she didn’t lose a single scorecard on her way to the gold medal. The path was made easier as Busenaz Surmeneli (Turkey) went out to Janjaem Suwannapheng (Thailand). Surmeneli had beaten Aneta Rygielska (Poland) in a tight bout who had beaten Rosie Eccles (Great Britain).
🥇Imane Khelif 🇩🇿
🥈Yang Liu 🇨🇳
🥉Chen Nien-Chen 🇹🇼
🥉Janjaem Suwannapheng 🇹🇭
I got the bottom half correct but Surmeneli losing caught me off guard
Women’s -75kg
The shocks happened in round one. Tammara Thibeault (Canada) was upset by an aggressive Cindy Ngamba (Refugee). Aoife O’Rourke (Ireland) went out to Elzbieta Wojcik (Poland) in a decision I disagreed with. Sunniva Hofstad (Norway) showed flashes but was ultimately not good enough to beat Lovlina Borgohain (India). Li Qian(China) would beat Borgohain in the quarter final. Caitlin Parker (Australia) used her movement to defeat Khadija El-Mardi (Morocco). Qian would beat Parker to make the final. On the other side of the draw Atheyna Bylon (Panama) landing bigger shots to get the victory over Ngamba to make the final with Ngamba becoming the first refugee medalist. Bylon was no match for Qian, in the final, who took gold.
🥇Li Qian 🇨🇳
🥈Atheyna Bylon 🇵🇦
🥉Cindy Ngamba
🥉Caitlin Parker 🇦🇺
I thought O’Rourke and Thibeault were the top two in the division so both going out changed the shape of the draw. After watching the opening round I did think Parker would beat El-Mardi
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