PARIS — Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev and Lazizbek Mullojonov won gold on Friday as Uzbekistan took the lead in the boxing medal tally for the Paris Olympics, while Algeria’s Imane Khelif claimed victory in the women’s welterweight final.
Muydinkhujaev beat Mexico’s Marco Verde in the men’s welterweight boxing final by unanimous decision. American Omari Jones and Lewis Richardson of Britain took bronze after their semi-final defeats.
In Friday’s bout, world champion 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 third round, Muydinkhujaev was declared the winner.
Mullojonov also won gold, beating Azerbaijan’s Loren Alfonso, to add to Hasanboy Dusmatov’s flyweight win on Thursday, putting Uzbekistan ahead of China, who have two gold medals.
Uzbekistan can add two more gold medals to their tally if Abdumalik Khalokov (featherweight) and Bakhodir Jalolov (super heavyweight) win their respective finals on Saturday.
Asked about Uzbekistan’s dominant showing in the boxing competition, Muydinkhujaev said: “We support each other. We respect each other. We are not just a team, we are a family.
“That is why we are so successful. We respect our coaches, they are like our fathers.
“My teammates still have to compete in their finals. I wish them well and hope we take five gold medals back to Uzbekistan.”
KHELIF WINS
Algeria’s Imane Khelif, the female boxer thrust into the center of a gender dispute at the Paris Games, beat China’s Yang Liu to take the welterweight Olympic gold medal.
Khelif kept her opponent at bay with her jab and took control of the bout as she cruised to a third unanimous win in the tournament and became the first Algerian woman to earn an Olympic boxing title.
China had a mixed night, with Liu’s defeat being balanced out by Wu Yu‘s victory over Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu in the flyweight final.
Wu fought with real ferocity to beat Tokyo silver medalist Cakiroglu by a 4-1 decision.
“This is my first time at an Olympic Games. So many people try to qualify and I’m so happy to win the gold medal,” Wu said.
“I have trained very hard and all that hard work paid off. I won the gold for my team, my coach, my country.”
—Reporting by Aadi Nair in Paris; Editing by Hugh Lawson