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Colossal Cuban Heavyweight Savon wins third gold medalPosted: Saturday September 30, 2000 4:22 AMUpdated: Thursday November 09, 2000 2:52 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- Felix Savon won his third Olympic heavyweight boxing gold medal Saturday as Cuba went home with its usual boxing medal haul. Savon was bleeding badly from a deep cut under his left eye as his fight with Russia's Sultanahmed Ibzagimov drew to an end. By that time, though, he had landed his big right hand enough to secure the gold. Savon became only the third boxer to win three Olympic gold medals, joining former Cuban heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson and Hungary's Lazlo Papp. Three of Savon's teammates also won gold medal fights, giving the powerful Cuban team four gold medals -- the same total it won in Atlanta -- and two bronze. Six more gold medal bouts will be fought Sunday, but no Cubans are in them. No Americans fought Saturday, but two are in gold medal bouts Sunday. Savon, who won gold medals in 1992 and 1996 and is a six-time world amateur champion, came into the ring with a mark under his left eye that appeared swollen from a previous fight. It didn't stop him from piling up points against the Russian, who had trouble getting inside the reach of the 6-foot-6 Cuban heavyweight. A punch in the fourth round opened a deep cut below the eye, but Savon was allowed to continue and won 21-13.
As Savon went back to his corner, blood was streaming down his face from the cut. A few moments later, though, he was happily dancing in the ring, waving a Cuban flag in victory. "I'm really happy. I dedicate this to the people of Cuba," Savon said. The 33-year-old Savon has dominated amateur heavyweight boxing for the last decade, though there were whispers that he was fading as he got off to a rocky start in his first fight before beating his Nigerian opponent. Michael Bennett was next for Savon, who used his powerful right hand to pile up enough points to stop the inexperienced American late in the third round. "He's a great warrior," Bennett said. Savon was cut under the left eye in a semifinal fight he won against German Sebastian Kober, but was allowed to continue and fight in the gold medal bout. Ibzagimov, who landed some telling blows in the final two rounds, said he followed the wrong strategy for the fight. "I came out and boxed defensively, and it was a mistake," he said. Other Cubans winning Saturday were Ortiz Rigondeaux, a 20-year-old newcomer at 119 pounds, and veterans Mario Kindelan at 132 pounds and Jorge Gutierrez at 165 pounds. The other two gold medals were won by Brahim Asloum of France at 106 pounds, and Oleg Saitov of Russia at 147 pounds. It was the second Olympic gold for Saitov, who also won in Atlanta. "I don't know what I'm going to do now," Saitov said after beating Sergei Dotsenko of the Ukraine 24-16. "I don't like planning ahead. I will just let things happen." Saitov's victory brightened the day for the Russian team, which came into the finals with the most boxers still in the competition -- five -- but lost three of four fights. The first boxing gold went to Asloum, who earlier in the tournament had beaten favored Brian Viloria of the United States at 106 pounds. Asloum was fighting perhaps the smallest boxer in 4-foot-11 Rafael Lozano of Spain, who was fighting in his third Olympics. Lozano, who won a bronze medal in Atlanta, fought hard but just couldn't keep the pressure on Asloum, who was wearing his hair in his country's colors of white, blue and red. "I wanted the gold, but I got the silver. I hope my girlfriend will talk to me tonight," Lozano said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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