Flyweight (≤112 pounds), Men

The favourites in this class were István Énekes of Hungary, the European champion, Werner Spannagel of Germany, the exotically named Italian Edelweiss Rodriguez and the home favourite Lou Salica. Fate decreed that all four were placed in the same half of the draw. Énekes was knocked to the floor in his quarter-final bout with Rodriguez but did enough to ensure his place in the semi-finals whilst Salica outpointed the European championship bronze medal winner Spannagel.

Énekes, a railway conductor from Budapest defeated Salica in the last four, the decision being deeply unpopular amongst the spectators, earning him the right to face Francisco Cabañas of Mexico in the final. Cabañas, the surprise package of the division had been forced to borrow money from friends and family to finance his trip to California. The Mexican was outfought by the Hungarian in the final but at least had the satisfaction of being the first boxing medal winner from his country.

István Énekes won another European amateur crown in 1934 but sadly, his life was to end at his own hands before his 30th birthday whilst Werner Spannagel was a victim of World War II. In contrast, Lou Salica had a long and successful professional career, twice winning versions of the world bantamweight title.