Boxers Erislandy Alvarez and Oleksandr Khyzhniak win Olympic gold

After Kellie Harrington of Ireland won the gold medal in women’s boxing on Tuesday, two more gold medals were awarded on Wednesday. In the men’s 63.5 kilogram division (lightweight), Erislandy Alvarez of Cuba was victorious. Then in the men’s 80 kilogram division (middleweight), Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine won gold.

Erislandy Alvarez

Alvarez won the gold medal in the lightweight division despite being unseeded. He defeated John Ume of Papua New Guinea in the first round when the referee stopped the decision. Alvarez then beat Jugurtha Ait Bekka of Algeria 5-0 in the second round, Bunjong Sinsiri of Thailand 5-0 in the quarterfinals, bronze medalist Lasha Guruli of Georgia 5-0 in the semifinals, and silver medalist Sofiane Oumiha of France 3-2 in the finals. Wyatt Sanford of Canada won the other bronze medal. This was Canada’s first Olympic medal in boxing since David Defiagbon won Olympic silver in the men’s heavyweight division at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Alvarez is the fourth Cuban boxer to win Olympic gold in the men’s lightweight division. He follows Angel Herrera Vera at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Mario Kindelan at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and Andy Cruz at the 2000 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.

Oleksandr Khyzhniak

Khyzhniak won gold in the middleweight division, and in the process won his second straight Olympic medal. He won the silver medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 when he lost the gold medal bout to Hebert Conceicao of Brazil three years ago.

In Paris, Khyzhniak beat silver medalist Nurbek Oralbay of Kazakhstan 3-2 in the gold medal bout. He also beat Pylyp Akilov of Hungary 5-0 in the first round, Wanderley Pereira of Brazil 5-0 in the second round, and bronze medalist Arlen Lopez of Cuba 3-2 in the semifinals. Cristian Pinales of the Dominican Republic won the other bronze medal.

Khyzhniak is the fourth Ukrainian boxer to win Olympic gold. He follows Wladimir Klitchko (men’s super heavyweight at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta), Vasyl Lomachenko (men’s featherweight at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and in the lightweight division at the 2012 Olympic Games in London), and Oleksandr Usyk (men’s heavyweight division at the 2012 Olympic Games in London).