Reigning world champion Odlanier Solis Fonte claimed a second boxing gold medal for Cuba, as he clashed Viktar Zuyev of Belarus 22-13 in the heavyweight championship bout Saturday.

It's also the second gold in the collection of the Caribbean amateur boxing powerhouse in the first finals day of Olympic boxing as Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano smashed Jerome Thomas of France 23-18 in the flyweight and Yudel Johnson Cedeno, also from Cuba, lost his light welterweight final to Manus Boonjumnong of Thailand 17-11.

Cuba, however, stayed favorite for a gold haul here in the Athens Olympic boxing tournament which features seven Cubans in the finals out of eleven categories.

The Olympics boxing tournament, slatted from August 14 to 29 in the Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall of Athens, will have the other six of its eleven golds decided Sunday afternoon.

Solis, who beat Naser Al Shami of Syria to a bronze with a convincing 25-5 win in Friday's semifinal clash before the referee stopped the contest, showed again his unparalleled power and skill here against Zuyev.

He opened a 6-5 lead in the first round after a sluggish start where he was down 3-1, and took control of the match right from the start of the second round, nailing down his lead with 7-4, 4-2 and 5-2 on the scoreboard respectively in the latter three rounds.

The 24-year-old Solis, who has won the world championships twice in 2003 and 2001, went into the Olympic campaign in Athens with a huge responsibility, as he is considered the successor to fellow Cuban legend Felix Savon, the six-time world champion and tree-time Olympic gold medalist who retired after winning in Sydney.

Mohamed Elsayed of Egypt, who failed his medical examination due to an injury to his left arm and withdrew from Friday's semi against Zuyev, shared a bronze place with Al Shami, the only boxer of Syria.

The bronze medal claimed by Al Shami is Syria's first medal in the Athens Olympic Games.