Flyweight (≤51 kilograms), Men

The victory of Balkan champion Georgi Kostadinov came as a surprise as he had been eliminated at the quarter final stage of the previous year’s European Championships. He used his superior footwork to box successfully on the retreat against the highly rated Pole Leszek Błażyński in the semi-final and then produced a carbon copy performance against 1968 medalist Leo Rwabwogo of Uganda to clinch the gold medal. Kostadinov fought on after Munich and returned to the Olympic Games in 1976 in Montreal but his display in 1972 was far and away the best of his career.

Bronze medalist Douglas Rodriguez won the flyweight title at the inaugural World Amateur Boxing Championships in Havana in 1974 whilst a boxer who was eliminated at an early stage found greater fame as a professional. Wilfredo Gómez, who competed for Puerto Rico despite being under the minimum age limit, is ranked as one of the greatest super-bantamweights of all time and also won world titles in two other weight divisions. Unluckiest of all the boxers in Munich was José Viccario of Argentina who was forced to withdraw after suffering facial injuries in a brawl at the Olympic village. His assailant, teammate Norberto Cabura, was sent home in disgrace.