Heavyweight Odlanier Solis led seven Cuban fighters into the final round of the Olympic boxing tournament with semifinal victories Friday, assuring the team will head home with one of the more impressive medal hauls in Olympic history.
The powerful Cuban team lost just one of its semifinal bouts at Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall. Three Russian fighters advanced, along with two from Kazakhstan, Thailand and Belarus.
PHOTO: AP
In the Cubans' most authoritative victory, Solis' bout against Syria's Naser Al Shami was stopped in the third round. Solis, a two-time world champion who succeeded three-time gold medalist Felix Savon in the weight division, will fight Belarus' Viktar Zuyev on Saturday for his first Olympic gold medal.
Flyweight Yuriorkis 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.
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 medalist 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 will meet 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 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 crowd also cheered when Ismail's nose was bloodied in the fourth round. Ismail laughed off the attention, blowing kisses to the crowd before and after the verdict was announced.
Gamboa will meet France's Jerome Thomas, a 23-18 winner over Azerbaijan's Fuad Aslanov. Johnson, who held off Bulgaria's Boris Georgiev 13-9, will have a challenge against entertaining Thai fighter Manus Boonjumnong, who beat Romania's Ionut Gheorghe 30-9.
North Korean featherweight Kim Song-guk surprised Germany's Vitali Tajbert, winning 29-24 in the only upset of the afternoon session. Kim will face Russia's Alexei Tichtchenko.
World champion middleweight Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan advanced to the gold-medal bout with a 24-18 victory over American Andre Dirrell, confounding the more athletic US fighter with strategy and counterpunches. Golovkin will meet Russia's Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov, a silver medalist in Sydney.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB