Date | 28 July – 2 August 1952 | |
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Status | Olympic | |
Location | Messuhalli I, Helsinki | |
Participants | 28 from 28 countries | |
Format | Single elimination tournament. | |
The 1952 Olympic Games marked the first shots in a sporting cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union that would last for over three decades. In boxing this rivalry came to a head in the light-welterweight division where the first ever USA-USSR final was fought out between Chuck Adkins and Viktor Mednov . In truth neither fighter had been troubled in their preliminary rounds as both reached the final via a series of unanimous points decisions and stoppages. Adkins, who arrived in Finland as understudy to Joe Reynolds to whom he had lost in the US trials, impressed the judges much as he had the US officials in pre-Games training, and won the decision over Mednov by a 2-1 split of the voting. Adkins, a former NCAA champion, went on to fight as a professional for five years without hitting the very top of his profession and also became the first black boxing coach at American collegiate level when he coached at San Jose State University.
Date | 28 July 1952 |
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Format | Winner of each match advanced to the second round. |
Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
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Match #1 | 28 Jul | Erkki Mallenius | FIN | ||||
Match #2 | 28 Jul | Stanley Majid | MYA | ||||
Match #3 | 28 Jul | Jean Paternotte | BEL | ||||
Match #4 | 28 Jul | Fernand Backes | LUX | ||||
Match #5 | 28 Jul | René Weissmann | FRA | Decision | Leszek Kudłacik | POL | |
Match #6 | 28 Jul | Pavle Šovljanski | YUG | Decision | Béla Farkas | HUN | |
Match #7 | 28 Jul | Francisc Ambruș | ROU | Decision | Hans Petersen | DEN | |
Match #8 | 28 Jul | Viktor Mednov | URS | Referee stops contest | Norm Jones | AUS | |
Match #9 | 28 Jul | Peter Waterman | GBR | Decision | Óscar Galardo | ARG | |
Match #10 | 28 Jul | Grant Webster | RSA | Decision | Herbert Schilling | GER | |
Match #11 | 28 Jul | Chuck Adkins | USA | Referee stops contest | Leif Hansen | NOR | |
Match #12 | 28 Jul | Salomón Carrizales | VEN | Decision | Celestino Pinto | BRA | |
Match #13 | 28 Jul | Piet van Klaveren | NED | Decision | Roy Keenan | CAN | |
Match #14 | 28 Jul | Terry Milligan | IRL | Decision | Ibrahim Afsharpour | IRI | |
Match #15 | 28 Jul | Juan Curet | PUR | Knock-out | Sarkis Moussa | LBN | |
Match #16 | 28 Jul | Bruno Visintin | ITA | Knock-out | Ernesto Porto | PHI |
Date | 29 – 30 July 1952 |
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Format | Winner of each match advanced to the quarter-finals. |
Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | Erkki Mallenius | FIN | Referee stops contest | Stanley Majid | MYA | ||
Match #2 | Jean Paternotte | BEL | Decision | Fernand Backes | LUX | ||
Match #3 | René Weissmann | FRA | Disqualified | Pavle Šovljanski | YUG | ||
Match #4 | Viktor Mednov | URS | Referee stops contest (injured) | Francisc Ambruș | ROU | ||
Match #5 | Grant Webster | RSA | Decision | Peter Waterman | GBR | ||
Match #6 | Chuck Adkins | USA | Decision | Salomón Carrizales | VEN | ||
Match #7 | Terry Milligan | IRL | Decision | Piet van Klaveren | NED | ||
Match #8 | Bruno Visintin | ITA | Decision | Juan Curet | PUR |
Date | 31 July 1952 |
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Format | Winner of each match advanced to the semi-finals. |
Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 31 Jul | Chuck Adkins | USA | Decision | Grant Webster | RSA | |
Match #2 | 31 Jul | Erkki Mallenius | FIN | Decision | Jean Paternotte | BEL | |
Match #3 | 31 Jul | Bruno Visintin | ITA | Decision | Terry Milligan | IRL | |
Match #4 | 31 Jul | Viktor Mednov | URS | Decision | René Weissmann | FRA |
Date | 1 August 1952 |
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Format | Winner of each match advanced to the final match. |
Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 01 Aug | Viktor Mednov | URS | Walkover | Erkki Mallenius | FIN | |
Match #2 | 01 Aug | Chuck Adkins | USA | Decision | Bruno Visintin | ITA |
Date | 2 August 1952 |
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Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match 1/2 | 02 Aug | Chuck Adkins | USA | Decision | Viktor Mednov | URS |