Kazakh dark horse grips men's 69kg gold

Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan, a dark horse in his category, stopped the winning streak of the all- mighty Cuban in the Athens Olympics boxing tournament after beating two-time world champion Lorenzo Aragon Armenteros in Athens on August 29 to clinch the gold for welter weight (69kg).

The welter weight category had been regarded as a duel field for the Cuban, who won the welter weight titles at two world championships in 2001 and 2003, and Russian Oleg Saitov, who had come to Athens with an aim to become the third boxer who could win three Olympic gold medals in the same weight division at three consecutive Games.

However, the formerly unknown Kazakh produced an unexpected upset for Saitov in the Friday semifinals, squeezing the Russian out of the Sunday final 20-18 on points.

He went on to fight in an excellent shape and overwhelmed his Cuban rival in terms of both techniques and fighting spirit. Trailing one point behind the Cuban after the first round, Artayev staged a strong and fast comeback in the second and third to establish a firm lead of 10 points at 28-18. He played very well in the fourth and last round to maintain the lead and conclude the match 36-26.

The young Kazakh boxer shed tears while all spectators in the Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall of Athens, the tournament venue, cheered for his victory at the medal awarding ceremony shortly after the final match.

The loss of Aragon Armenteros ended the Cuban boxers' gold haul in this Olympic tournament. But the traditional Caribbean amateur boxing powerhouse could still bid farewell to Athens with great satisfaction as its boxers have swept away five of the total 11 Olympic boxing golds here, one more than what they got at the last Olympic Games in Sydney 2000.

Earlier on Sunday afternoon, the Cubans had won all of the first three finals for light flyweight (48kg), bantam weight (54kg) and lightweight (60kg). They also pocketed the golds for flyweight (51kg) and heavyweight (91kg) Saturday evening.

Saitov and Kim Jung Joo of South Korea, who lost to the Cuban in the semifinals, shared the bronze.