Savon makes boxing history

Felix Savon punches Russian boxer Sultanahmed Ibzagimov during the 91 kg finals.

Heavyweight final (91kg)

Felix Savon won a historic third Olympic heavyweight gold medal - but only after surviving a late scare with a cut under his eye.

The 33-year-old Cuban legend won comfortably on points 21-13 against Russian Sultanahmed Ibzagimov but had a scare 14 seconds from the end of the final.

Savon equalled the Olympic record of Hungarian Lazlo Papp and countryman Teofilo Stevenson with three boxing golds each.

Australian referee Wayne Rose stopped the bout to inspect a gash under Savon's left eye.

But Rose allowed the fight to continue after wiping Savon's cut eye and the Cuban colossus kept out of harm's way over the final seconds to win the fight and enter Olympic boxing immortality.

It was the same eye which caused Savon problems in his semi-final win over German Sebastian Kober.

Savon is a legend in amateur boxing and has won six world titles.

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Middleweight final (75kg)

Jorge Gutierrez nicked a tightly fought middleweight final by scoring two points in the final minute.

Gutierrez beat Russian Gaidarbek Gaidarbekov 17-15 in the second of three Cuba-Russia finals.

Hungary's Zsolt Erdei and Azerbaijan's Vugar Alekperov won bronze medals as losing semi-finalists.

The middleweight final was too close to call until the final seconds as the two fighters matched each other blow for blow.

They were tied at 3-3 after the first round, with Gutierrez forgetting how to jab and relying on a clubbing left that the Russian never came to terms with.

Gaidarbekov led 8-6 in the second but then took a standing eight count after catching another left in the face and Gutierrez landed another hook seconds later to pull level.

The score was 15-15 with 57 seconds remaining before Gutierrez produced the gold medal punches in the last 40 seconds.

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Welterweight final (67kg)

Russian Oleg Saitov became the first boxer to retain an Olympic welterweight title when he beat Ukrainian Sergey Dotsenko 24-16.

Saitov, who was booed when he won the 1996 gold medal in Atlanta, was Russia's first boxing champion of the 2000 tournament and won before a cheering crowd this time.

Saitov (l) and Dotsenko square up

Romanian Dorel Simion and Moldova's Vitalii Grusac were the bronze medallists after losing in the semi-finals.

There could be no doubt that Saitov deserved his title, working his left jab well and controlling the bout.

He took the fight to the Ukrainian and led after every round.

In a sporting gesture, Dotsenko hoisted Saitov in his arms and presented him to the crowd after the decision was announced.

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Lightweight final (60kg)

Cuba won their second boxing gold of the Olympics when Mario Kindelan gave a classy performance to beat Ukrainian Andriy Kotelnik 14-4 in the lightweight final.

Russian Alexandr Maletin and Mexican Cristian Bejarano took bronze medals as losing semi-finalists.

The Olympic gold allowed southpaw Kindelan to consolidate his reputation as the best lightweight in amateur boxing after he won the world championship title last year.

It was a cagey start with Kindelan taking the first round 2-0, and the fight continued in the same style as the Cuban kept his opponent at bay.

He kept his distance in the third, but made every shot count to lead 9-3, before raising the tempo to take the gold with a final flourish.

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Bantamweight final (54kg)

Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux won the first of three Cuba-Russia finals in the Olympic boxing ring to take bantamweight gold.

Rigondeaux beat 1995 and 1997 world champion Raimkoul Malakhbekov 18-12.

Ukrainian Serguey Daniltchenko and American Clarence Vinson won bronze medals as losing semi-finalists.

Rigondeaux was 7-6 down after the second round but came back in the third by using his jab to good effect and then darting back to avoid the counter.

He opened up an 11-9 lead after the third and then pulled away in round four.

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Light-flyweight final (under 48kg)

Brahim Asloum became France's first Olympic boxing champion in 64 years by beating Spaniard Rafael Lozano 23-10.

Cuba's Maikro Romero and North Korean Kim Un-chol had taken bronze medals as losing semi-finalists.

Asloum, who beat a world and Olympic champion to get to the final, used his greater height and excellent defence to soak up Lozano's punches and score points on the counter-attack.

The Frenchman, who has been boxing for just five years, led 4-3 after the first round as Lozano steered him onto the ropes and into the corner without getting much reward for his efforts.

Asloum's lead turned into a 10-5 advantage after the second and 17-7 in the third as the points flowed.

Lozano, the smallest fighter at the Games, added silver to the bronze he won in Atlanta.

The last French Olympic champions in boxing were middleweight Jean Despeaux and light-heavyweight Roger Michelot in the 1936 Berlin Games.