2008 Olympic Games page 

Two world champions add Olympic gold to their name, China win two titles while Cuba go home without any golds for the first time since 1968 as the boxing competition of the 2008 Olympic Games boxing competition wrapped up in the Workers' Gymnasium on Sunday.

Local hero Zou Shiming and Italian super heavyweight Roberto Cammerelle both add an Olympic title to the World Championship medal they won in Chicago last year as the finals for the 54kg, 60kg, 69kg, 81kg and +91kg divisions were completed with the final tally of 11 gold medals being spread across nine different countries giving an excellent illustration of the new fair officiating and the change in power in boxing.

Light Flyweight Zou Shiming, a two-time world champion, gave the home crowd the gold medal they were hoping for with the easiest of victories in the 48kg final, rarely being tested before an extremely disappointed Serdamba Purevdorj (MGL) had to stop early in the second round citing a shoulder injury.

After a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympic Games and the 2007 and 2005 World Championships titles to his name, Zou proved he is well on top of his class. 

"In Athens 2004 I almost got a gold when I was leading but I lost for some reason," Zou said. "It was quite regretful so in the past four years my coach told me to be careful and cautious for this competition. In previous bouts, apparently I won easily but there is a lot of preparation going on and details prepared. Even last night when I was sleeping, I thought about what I should do if I fell behind and what I should do if I took the lead."

The second bout of the day saw AIBA World Championships Chicago 2007 silver medallist Badar-Uugan Enkhbat (MGL) pull off a sensational 16:5 victory over 26-year-old Leon Alarcon Yankiel (CUB) Bantamweight 54kg division.

Enkhbat proved too quick and evasive for one of Cuba's rising stars and became Mongolia's first Olympic boxing gold (out of eight Olympic Games, Mongolia had previously won two bronze medals - 1988, 1992) and second ever gold medallist.

"I am very happy to win the gold medal," Enkhbat said. "I want to thank my parents, my fans who came to Beijing to cheer for me and our people who support me, they give me the power to win. I phoned my lovely wife and my parents and they are so happy, they were crying because of my victory."

Meanwhile, Russia doubled its gold medal count when Alexey Tishchenko became only the fourth boxer to win gold in two weight divisions. After winning the 57kg title in Athens, Tishchenko beat Daouda Sow (FRA) in a very tight 60kg final 11:9.

"The level of boxing has become more equal," Tishchenko, the 2005 world champion said. "All opponents are difficult but in today's bout I was faster than Sow. The responsibility was really getting to me as no team had got more than two gold medals in boxing and my win brought Russia's second gold. We can say that the total performance of the team was successful."

The three previous boxers to win gold medals in two different weight divisions are: Oliver Kirk (USA) Bantamweight and featherweight in 1904, László Papp (HUN) Middleweight in 1948 and Light Middleweight in 1952 and 1956 and Angel Herrera Vera (CUB) Featherweight in 1976 and Lightweight in 1980.

The 69kg final saw Cuba miss out on gold for a second time when 2008 Pan Am champ Carlos Banteaux Suarez (CUB) lost 18:9 to 2006 Asian games champion Bakhyt Sarsekbayev (KAZ) before China won its second gold when Xiaoping Zhang beat Kenny Egan (IRE) 11:7 in the 81kg final.

"I did everything I could to fight for my family, my country and my friends," Sarsekbayev said. "I did everything I could to please my country. These Olympic Games are the first for me and I did not expect such immense support from my compatriots in the tribunes, it was so amazing.???

The final bout of the day saw 2007 world champion Roberto Cammarelle (ITA) add an Olympic gold after knocking down Zhang Zhilei (CHN) in the fourth round. It was another impressive performance from "The Professor" after he was leading 14:4 at the time.

The Val Barker Trophy went to Vasyl Lomachenko (UKR), the 57kg Featherweight gold medallist.

Boxing medals table