Julio Cesar La Cruz wins his second consecutive Olympic gold medal

The Cuban success has continued at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. In the men’s heavyweight division on Friday, Julio Cesar La Cruz used tremendous footwork and charisma in displaying exceptional defense, while maximizing on the opportunities offensively provided to him, by beating Muslim Gadzhimagomedov of the Russian Olympic Committee 5-0 on the scorecard in the men’s heavyweight final.

For Cesar La Cruz it was his second consecutive gold medal at the Olympic Games. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Cesar La Cruz beat Adilbek Niyazymbetov of Kazakhstan to win the Olympic gold medal in the men’s light heavyweight division.

Cesar La Cruz became one of three Cuban boxers to win a gold medal for a second time in their careers at the 2020 Olympic Games in 2021. Roniel Iglesias, who won a gold medal in the men’s welterweight division at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, also won a gold medal in the men’s light welterweight division at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Arlen Lopez, who won a gold medal in the men’s light heavyweight division at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, also won a gold medal in the men’s middleweight division at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. What is also fascinating about Cesar La Cruz, Iglesias and Lopez is the fact they have  each won two Olympic gold medals in two different weight classes.

In the men’s heavyweight competition, Cesar La Cruz beat Elly Ochola of Kenya 5-0 in the round of 16, Emmanuel Reyes of Spain 4-1 in the quarterfinals, and Abner Teixeira of Brazil 4-1 in the semifinals. The fact that La Cruz beat Gadzhimagomedov was surprising as the Russian had looked very strong in his previous three heavyweight bouts. David Nyika of New Zealand and Abner Teixeira of Brazil shared the bronze medal.

Nyika became the fourth boxer from New Zealand to win an Olympic medal. Ted Morgan won an Olympic gold medal in the men’s welterweight division at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, Kevin Barry won a silver medal in the men’s light heavyweight division at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and David Tua won a bronze medal in the men’s heavyweight division at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.