On Sunday, the final day of Olympics boxing action was held at the ExCel in London. Five more gold medals were at stake, with sensational matches lined up such as the Super Heavyweight showdown between Roberto Cammerelle of Italy and Anthony Joshua of Great Britain. Great Britain was also represented by Freddie Evans, while defending Val Barker Cup winner Vasyl Lomachenko from Ukraine was going for gold as well. Right here, find the complete wrap-up to the men’s Olympic boxing competition and the results of all 5 remaining gold medal matches.
—-> See Saturday’s Gold medal results here
In the first fight of the session, 18-year-old Cuban Robeisy Ramirez was in action against Mongolia’s Tugstogt Nyambayar. The Mongolian started the bout well, and looked sturdier and more composed. However, Ramirez was clearly the slicker and more athletic of the two.
While it appeared he got a bit of favorable scoring, in the second and third rounds, he won the decision 17-14 to take home the Flyweight gold, and there’s no major complaints there with that. Just a teenager, Ramirez has an amazingly bright future.
Next up was defending Val Barker winner from Beijing, Vasyl Lomachenko. The Lightweight from Ukraine was battling South Korea’s Soonchul Han. Lomachenko came right out and began asserting himself. So much world-class experience. He took a 7-2 lead after Round 1.
Lomachenko continued pressing the action despite the big early lead, and Han seemed content to let it happen. The lead went to 11-5 through two rounds, leading to Han turning up the heat a little bit and looking to attack in the third.
The verdict was never in doubt, as Lomachenko was announced as the Lightweight gold medal winner with a 19-9 score, and could be in line for a repeat Val Barker Cup as well.
Kazakhstan Welterweight Serik Sapiyev came out confident and fast against Welshman Freddie Evans in the Welterweight final. He was always off first, and was popping off his southpaw jab frequently. Evans didn’t do much in return, he couldn’t seem to find his rhythm against the perpetual motion and attack of Sapiyev. Sapiyev went up 4-2 after the first.
Sapiyev continued in the second, going up 10-5. Evans just couldn’t get anything done, he was either unable or unwilling to consistently lead, and Sapiyev just stayed in rhythm, controlled the pace of the fight, and kept on throwing punches. More of the same in the third, Sapiyev outclassed him here, cruising his way to a gold medal via final score of 17-9.
In the Light Heavyweight final, Russia’s Egor Mekhontcev was in action against Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Niyazymbetov. Both men did good work in the first, but the Kazakh grabbed a surprising 4-3 lead. Mekhontcev took the second 5-4, tying up matters at 8 a piece heading into the final round in this showdown of southpaws.
Mekhontcev really was sticking the jab in the final round, to the head and body. Some good action from both men, but Mekhontcev appeared to separate himself in the only close contest of the day thus far. The verdict was up in the air, and when the decision was read, a 15-15 score was announced, and the countback kept matters tied. Therefore, the judges had to pick the winner directly, and Egor Mekhontcev of Russia took home the gold at Light Heavyweight.
And it’s appropriate that the final Olympic boxing match of the entire London Olympics involved a British fighter, from London, going for gold. It’s also fitting because Roberto Cammarelle won gold in Beijing by besting a Chinese fighter, and he was looking to do so against the home country fighter once again.
Cammarelle started strong in the first, as the two were trading wild punches. Joshua landed a nice right hand early in the round. Cammarelle eventually got Joshua trapped in a corner, and began teeing off, hurting him badly with a right hook. The first went to Cammarelle 6-5.
The second slowed down significantly. Joshua was looking to keep things tighter, while Cammarelle was looking to pick his spots, leading with hooks and uppercuts. Cammarelle countered Joshua and got him back to the corner again, but didn’t land anything big this time. The second round went 7-5 for Cammarelle, as he built a 13-10 lead.
Cammarelle isn’t one to step off the gas, and he kept on attacking in the third, winging away with wild, yet surprisingly accurate, shots. Joshua looked for a big straight right to try to turn things around. Joshua landed a crisp jab and the two men just stood toe to toe, trading bombs. Joshua kept on seeking the big right. Cammarelle getting inside more here in the third. This round probably going to Joshua, and the two just kept on trading until the bell. It was a great, exciting fight, and the crowd was going nuts the whole time.
The verdict is read, and an 18-18 tie is announced. Anthony Joshua then wins the gold via countback! I thought Cammarelle deserved to win the fight, but Joshua takes it.
Final Olympic Boxing Gold Medal Results
Men’s Fly (52kg)
Mongolia NYAMBAYAR Tugstsogt loses 17-14 Cuba RAMIREZ CARRAZANA Robeisy
Men’s Light (60kg)
Ukraine LOMACHENKO Vasyl wins 19-9 Republic of Korea HAN Soonchul
Men’s Welter (69kg)
Great Britain EVANS Freddie loses 17-9 Kazakhstan SAPIYEV Serik
Men’s Light Heavy (81kg)
Russian Federation MEKHONTCEV Egor wins on tiebreaker after 15-15 Kazakhstan NIYAZYMBETOV Adilbek
Men’s Super Heavy (+91kg)
Italy CAMMARELLE Roberto loses 18-18 after countback to Great Britain JOSHUA Anthony
