Cuba’s Andy Cruz Claims Gold in Men’s Lightweight Boxing at Tokyo Games

2020 Tokyo Games

Andy Cruz is officially an Olympic gold medalist…

The 25-year-old Cuban boxer defeated Team USA’s Keyshawn Davis by split decision to claim the gold medal in the men’s lightweight boxing competition at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Andy Cruz

In a re-run of the 2019 World Championships, the 22-year-old American was forced to take silver after a split decision favored Cruz, who is also the reigning Pan-American champion.

Davis had set a quick pace from the opening bell by going out on the attack with Cruz biding his time before hitting the target. The top seed went back to his corner at the end of the round ahead by four judges.

Andy Cruz

The story reversed in the second round when Davis, buoyed on by the vocal support of his team in the Kokugikan Arena, landed a series of blows on Cruz to win all 10s from the judges.

There was everything to play for the in third round. Davis was a constant threat, but Cruz replied with killer jabs and by the end both raised their arms in celebration.

There was an agonizing wait for the result before it was announced that Cruz had won 4-1 and the Olympic title. The judges had preferred his ability to defend himself and reply with less frequent shots. On his way to final, he had demolished Australia’s Harry Garside 5-0 in the semifinal, and in the earlier rounds Brazil’s Wanderson de Oliveira 4-1 and Great Britain’s Luke McCormack 5-0.

“I’m very happy because I could reach my goal. It was my goal to reach gold and I accomplished that,” said an elated Cruz after the bout.

Davis, who took silver, also reacted positively to the fight: “I feel like it was a great fight. It was moving so fast, I barely remember it. But I felt like it was a 3-2 decision, it was a good technical fight, I think the fans loved it.” On winning a silver medal, he added: “Everything was worth it, man. Even though it’s a silver medal, I still learned a lot about myself in this tournament, leading up to the silver medal. I think I’m a better fighter now.”

The bronze medals were awarded to Garside and Armenia’s Hoyhannes Bachkov, who Davis had beaten in the semifinal 5-0.

Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias Wins Gold Medal in Men’s Welterweight Boxing at Tokyo Games

2020 Tokyo GamesRoniel Iglesias is golden yet again…

The 32-year-old Cuban amateur boxer claimed the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games after defeating Great Britain’s Pat McCormack by a score of 5-0 in the men’s welterweight competition.

Roniel Iglesias

Scores were 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Iglesias, who delivered a masterclass performance Tuesday evening at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.

Iglesias has previously won a gold medal at the 2012 London Games in the light welterweight category.

He also claimed a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Games after losing his semifinal bout to defending champion Manus Boonjumnong in the light welterweight category.

Iglesias moved to the welterweight prior to the 2016 Rio Games, where he competed but failed to medal.

The four-time Cuban Olympian with three medals can now add ‘two-time Olympic Gold medalist’ to his resume.

Roniel Iglesias

“This puts me straight up there in the highest ranking, in the highest order,” he said. “I think this speaks for itself and shows how much I love the sport. … Those who always doubted that I could achieve the Olympic pinnacle, that was an extra push from me to get up every morning and give it that extra bit of effort and achieve this result,” said Iglesias of his Olympic career.