Nicola Adams retains boxing gold

Adams, the first woman to win an Olympic boxing title at the London Games, made it back-to-back gold with a unanimous decision victory over French boxer Sarah Ourahmoune.

Published : Aug 20, 2016 23:25 IST , Rio de Janeiro

Nicola Adams of Britain celebrates after winning the gold medal on Saturday.
Nicola Adams of Britain celebrates after winning the gold medal on Saturday.
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Nicola Adams of Britain celebrates after winning the gold medal on Saturday.

British fighter Nicola Adams won her second-straight Olympic boxing gold medal.

Adams, the first woman to win an Olympic boxing title at the London Games, made it back-to-back gold with a unanimous decision victory over French boxer Sarah Ourahmoune.

Adams swept the scorecards 39-37 to win lightweight gold and become the first two-time women’s Olympic boxing champion.

Ourahmoune had a big rally in the second and third rounds to keep the fight a bit closer than expected. But Adams won the decisive fourth round on all three cards and thumped her chest and pointed toward the sky when the decision was announced.

Ramirez wins bantamweight gold

Cuba's Robeisy Ramirez won the men's Olympic bantamweight gold medal on Saturday and ended U.S. hopes of their first men's champion since 2004.

The 2012 flyweight gold medallist beat 19-year-old Shakur Stevenson, the bright prospect on the U.S. men's team who had reached the final after a semifinal walkover, on a split decision.

The gold was Cuba's second of the boxing tournament after Julio Cesar La Cruz secured the light-heavyweight title on Thursday.

Russia's Vladimir Nikitin and Uzbekistan's Murodjon Akhmadaliev took the bronze medals.

Cuba's Lopez wins men's middleweight gold

World champion Arlen Lopez beat Uzbekistan's Bektemir Melikuziev on a unanimous points decision to win the Olympic middleweight title on Saturday, Cuba's third gold medal of the boxing tournament.

Azerbaijan's Kamran Shakhsuvarly and Mexico's Misael Rodriguez, his country's first medallist in the division since 1968, took the bronze medals as losing semifinalists.

Fighting half an hour after compatriot Robeisy Ramirez had won bantamweight gold, Lopez ensured Cuba won two of the day's three finals by taking the opening rounds before easing off slightly in the third.

The top seed coming into the tournament, Lopez always looked the more polished fighter in what was a repeat of the 2015 world championship final and he closed out the draw with a 3-0 win. The 23-year-old caught Melikuziev with his arm in the third round, leading to a brief pause while the Uzbek had medical attention for a gash above his eye.

Cuba has now won middleweight gold five times, equalling the United States and Britain. “There was some information from people in the stands through signals that I was ahead and that encouraged me and I knew the victory was in my hands,” said Lopez, who celebrated with a forward roll on the canvas.

Japan's Ryoto Murata won the title in 2012 and then turned professional.

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