Boxing, Paris Olympics 2024: Muydinkhujaev wins welterweight gold as Uzbeks continue to shine

Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev beat Mexico’s Marco Verde to win gold in the men’s welterweight boxing final by unanimous decision at the Paris Olympics on Friday and added to compatriot Hasanboy Dusmatov’s victory on Thursday.

American Omari Jones and Lewis Richardson of Britain took bronze after their semifinal defeats.

World champion Muydinkhujaev becomes the second Uzbek boxer to win gold at the Paris Games and the country could add three more titles to their tally with Lazizbek Mullojonov (heavyweight), Abdumalik Khalokov (featherweight) and Bakhodir Jalolov (super heavyweight) still to compete.

The finalists on Friday met at the Boxam International in January, a bout which Verde won en route to his silver medal at the tournament, but in Paris Muydinkhujaev was by far the better boxer in the opening two rounds.

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Muydinkhujaev did well to keep out of range and then struck with venom whenever the Mexican attempted to bridge the gap as he took a comfortable lead heading into the final round.

With his defeat all but guaranteed, Mexico’s Verde went in all guns blazing but he had left it too late and, despite winning the round, Muydinkhujaev was declared the winner.

Pan American Games champion Verde was looking to become the first Mexican to win an Olympic boxing gold medal since Ricardo Delgado (flyweight) and Antonio Roldan (featherweight) at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.