Olympics Day 11: Cuba’s Erislandy Alvarez, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzyniak win gold

Erislandy Alvarez made sure Cuba does not leave the Paris Olympics without a boxing gold, defeating France’s Sofiane Oumiha on Wednesday by a 3-2 decision to win the men’s 63.5 kilograms gold at the Paris Games.

Cuba, an Olympic boxing powerhouse, had only gone one Olympics without a boxing gold since 1968, when it managed four silvers but no gold at the 2008 Beijing Games. If they are to avoid a rematch, Alvarez will need a win. a hometown fighter who was eager to end his young career with the sport’s highest award.

Alvarez, 24, started off aggressively against Oumiha, 29, closing the distance and hooking the mobile Oumiha, whose defense helped him avoid some but not all of the big shots. A strong start saw Alvarez sweep the first round on all five cards. Needing a change of tactics to turn the tide, Oumiha took a firmer stance and argued more. Alvarez also made adjustments, using a left uppercut up the middle to open up opportunities for a left hook near guard. Oumiha responded by taking a step back before exchanging and looking to fill the gap with left hook counters. Oumiha was able to win the second of three cards, giving him a small window to take the game into the third.

Alvarez took the final round 4-1 with his ferocity, earning him the victory and denying Oumiha the gold he had been chasing since he took silver at the 2016 Rio Games. Oumiha was in tears over the decision while Alvarez. , a former gymnast, celebrated with a backflip in the middle of the ring.

Oleksandr Khyzyniak, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Games, managed to exorcise the demons of three years ago, outworking Kazakhstan’s Nurbek Oralbay to a 3-2 decision in the men’s 80kg final.

The relentless violence that characterized Khyzniak’s style produced a rush of blood from Oralbay’s nose. Oralbay did their best to keep up with the pace, looking for counter opportunities, but Khyzniak’s deceptively good defense and unreal pace made that a challenging task.

The fight was dead even heading into the third, with each boxer leading by two cards and the fifth tied. The pace started to feel on Oralbay, who started to compromise and touched the ropes. Khyzniak took advantage of Oralbay’s fatigue, stringing together left uppercuts as Oralbay wilted, tripping from exhaustion in the final bell.

The 29-year-old Khyzhniak from Poltava, Ukraine had won the gold medal match three years ago, but was knocked out in the third round by Hebert Conceicao Sousa with seconds remaining in a fight he had dominated from the start.

There are two gold medal matches to be played on Thursday, with China’s Chang Yuan taking on Turkey’s Hatice Akbas in the women’s 54kg final and Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov taking on France’s Billal Bennama in the men’s 51kg final.

Full Results

Women’s 57kg – semi-final

Lin Yu Ting (TPE) 5-0 Esra Yildiz Kahraman (TUR)

Julia Szeremeta (POL) 4-1 Nesthy Petecio (PHI)

Men +92kg – semi-final

Bakhodir Jalolov (UZB) 5-0 Nelvie Raman Tiafack (GER)

Ayoub Ghadfa Drissi El Aissaoui (ESP) Djamili-Dini Aboudou Moindze (FRA)

Men 63.5kg – final

Erislandy Alvarez (CUB) 3-2 Sofiane Oumiha (FRA)

Men 80kg – final

Oleksandr Khyzhniak (UKR) 3-2 Nurbek Oralbay (KAZ)