The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Fonte pockets heavyweight gold

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Sunday, Aug 29, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

Fonte pockets heavyweight gold

ATHENS, AUG. 28. Odlanier Solis Fonte of Cuba won the gold medal on Saturday in heavyweight boxing, beating Viktar Zuyev of Belarus 22-13. Naser Al Shami of Syria and Mohamed Elsayed of Egypt shared the bronze.

Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov of Russia took the gold in middleweight boxing, beating Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan 28-18. Andre Dirrell of the United States and Suriya Prasathinphimai of Thailand shared the bronze.

Earlier, Cuba's Yuriorkis Gamboa outpointed Frenchman Jerome Thomas to win the flyweight gold medal.

Gamboa, one of seven Cubans in the Athens finals, put his opponent under pressure with flashing left-right combinations from the opening bell.

The gifted 22-year-old was just one point ahead after the first round but he then increased his lead, swift footwork and superior hand speed helping him win a comfortable 38-23 decision.

Thomas, a bronze medallist four years ago in Sydney, was trying to become the first Frenchman to win two Olympic boxing medals.

Earlier on Friday, heavyweight Odlanier Solis led the Cuban fighters into the final round with semifinal victories.

The powerful Cuban team lost just one of its semifinal bouts at the Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall. Three Russian fighters advanced, along with two from Kazakhstan, Thailand and Belarus.

In the Cubans' most authoritative victory, Solis' bout against Syria's Naser Al Shami was stopped in the third round. Gamboa and light welterweight Yudel Johnson also won their afternoon semifinal bouts.

Light flyweight Yan Bhartelemy, bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux, lightweight Mario Kindelan and welterweight Lorenzo Aragon advanced in the evening, all winning by at least 10 points.

Only Cuban super heavyweight Michel Lopez Nunez failed to advance, losing to Egypt's Mohamed Aly 18-16 in the night's final bout.

Saitov loses quest

Russian welterweight Oleg Saitov also failed in his quest for his third gold medal, losing to Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Artayev 20-18.

Amir Khan, Great Britain's 17-year-old lightweight sensation, advanced with a 40-26 win over Kazakhstan's Serik Yeleuov. His match against Kindelan, the 33-year-old defending gold medallist and three-time world champion who will retire after the fight, might be the most anticipated of Sunday's six bouts.

"There's a chance, sure," Khan said. "I just might catch him with a shot."

"Khan will be a tough opponent, but I have faith in myself and my abilities, and I believe that I will get the gold medal and bring it to my country," Kindelan said.

Light heavyweight Andre Ward was the only American to advance to the final round, beating Uzbekistan's Utkirbek Haydarov to keep alive his six-year winning streak.

Ward's opponent Belarus' Magomed Aripgadjiev, who endeared himself to Greek boxing fans with a bloody 23-20 victory over Egypt's Ahmed Ismail.

Ismail advanced to the semifinals on Tuesday when Greece's Elias Pavlidis was disqualified while leading their quarterfinal bout because of cuts on his face.

The crowd that night threw water bottles at the ring and forced Ismail to flee; Greece protested the result later, saying Pavlidis' injuries were caused by illegal blows.

The near-capacity crowd made its sentiments known early in the semifinals: They booed Ismail with even more fervour than Ward, who drew the usual anti-American sentiment, and they chanted "Hellas! Hellas!" in the first round. — Agencies

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