Tokyo Olympics, Boxing: Hebert delivers KO for gold while Surmeneli stamps dominance in women's welterweight

Aug 07, 2021

Tokyo [Japan], August 7 : Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey defeated China's GU Hong 3-0 to clinch the first Olympic gold in women's welterweight while Brazil's Hebert Sousa knocked out Ukraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak in the third round after losing first two rounds in men's middleweight to claim the top prize.
Busenaz Surmeneli won the women's welterweight gold medal match against GU Hong in a thrilling duel that highlighted two opposite boxing styles. With Gu being deducted a point, Surmeneli took the reins to prevail in the second round after losing first. The Turkish boxer then did enough in the last round to win the match 3-0 (overall points) -- after Gu had a point deducted in the second -- and claimed the first-ever Olympic women's welter gold in history.
In men's middleweight, Brazil's Hebert Sousa won a spectacular gold, after landing a crushing left hook to leave Ukraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak down and beaten.
The referee called the bout off after 1 minute and 29 seconds of round three in one of the most memorable bouts of the entire boxing competition. With the Ukrainian leading 20-18 on the scorecards heading into the final round, Sousa caught Khyzhniak flush on the chin with a sharp left hook to end the contest.
Meanwhile, in the men's flyweight final, Galal Yafai of Great Britain boxed brilliantly against the Philippines' Carlo Paalam to win gold. Yafai was ecstatic with his flyweight gold, saying, as per Olympics.com: "Yeah Olympic champion, man, it's crazy. You don't really get much of a smile out of me, but I'm over the moon now."
And in the women's fly category, Bulgaria's Stoyka Zhelyazkova Krasteva became the new Olympic champion after defeating Turkey's Buse Naz Cakiroglu in the gold medal match at the famed Kokugikan Arena. The 35-year-old was in phenomenal form as she outclassed and outwitted Cakiroglu, who was 10 years her junior, to win three straight sets.