Tokyo: The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) claimed its first boxing gold at the Tokyo Olympics as Albert Batyrgaziev defeated Duke Ragan of the United States in the men’s featherweight final on Thursday.
The No 2 seed Batyrgaziev won the bout with a split decision 3-2.
Batyrgaziev started confidently and kept pushing forward in the first round, gaining favourable 10-9 scores from four judges out of five.
In the second round, the Russian outpunched his opponent in accuracy and got four more 10-9, which almost secured the victory.
It’s too late for Ragan when four judges scored in favour of him in the last round.
“I’m happy that I managed to prove to everyone and to the judges that I deserved this victory,” said Batyrgaziev.
“There are no easy rivals at these Games because taking part at the Olympic Games is already a serious feat. All athletes here, all boxers command respect.”
“I kind of found my rhythm later in the fight but it was too late then,” said Ragan, adding that he looked forward to fighting with Batyrgaziev in the future.
Ghana’s Samuel Takyi and Cuba’s Lazaro Alvarez shared the bronze.
