Middleweight (≤75 kilograms), Men

Yevhen Khytrov, the world champion and top seed in the division, was the victim of a huge shock in his first bout of the Games. His fight against British boxer Anthony Ogogo ended in a 14-14 tie and incredibly the two men could not be divided by the countback system which had them level at 52-52. It took the individual preference votes of the judges to decide that the Briton, despite having been given two standing counts, was the winner.

Ogogo’s winning run was snapped in the semi-final by Esquiva Florentino of Brazil who was one of two brothers who won medals at boxing in Beijing. The other semi-final was a close affair that was awarded to Ryota Murata of Japan over Abbos Atayev of Uzbekistan by a single point. One point was also the margin that decided the final and again it was the Japanese fighter who came out on top. An appeal on behalf on Florentino was denied by the AIBA.

Both champion Murata and bronze medallist Ogogo had been through difficult times prior to the Olympics. Murata’s former coach had committed suicide six months before the Games began whilst Ogogo’s preparations had to be put on hold when his mother lapsed into a coma following a brain aneurysm in June. Murata’s gold medal was the first by a Japanese fighter since 1964 and the first to be won outside Japan.