Super Saturday ahead as gold-medal finals start to flow on final weekend of Rio 2016 Boxing Tournament
August 20th, 2016 / IBA
After two weeks of mesmerising Olympic Boxing, Riocentro Pavilion 6 is set for a grandstand finale this weekend with a flurry of gold-medals being awarded over the next two days. Six new Olympic Champions have already been crowned at Rio 2016 and 19 nations are guaranteed at least one medal, with seven finals still to come.
The first will see Nicola Adams looking to defend her Flyweight (51kg) title against Sarah Ourahmoune of France. Adams had to come from behind against China’s Ren Cancan in the Semi-Finals, while Ourahmoune will be hoping to emulate the success of her teammate Estelle Mossely, after she won a brilliant Women’s Lightweight (61kg) final on Day Fourteen.
Saturday’s second match will be the hotly anticipated Bantamweight (56kg) bout between USA’s Shakur Stevenson and Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez. Stevenson has dazzled the crowds so far with his relaxed, dynamic style, but Ramirez has already gone through the pressures of an Olympic Final after winning Flyweight (52kg) gold at London 2012, and that experience could prove decisive.
The last gold of the day comes in the Men’s Middleweight (75kg) Final, with Cuba’s Arlen Lopez facing Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan. Lopez has built a formidable KO reputation and after a superb, title-winning World Series of Boxing Season VI, he will only have victory on his mind. After winning World Championship silver in Doha last year, Melikuziev will not want to taste defeat in a second major final inside 12 months, and the Asian Champion will have studied Lopez’s Olympic bouts carefully in search of any weaknesses he might exploit to win the gold.
