Middleweight boxing at the Games of the XXI Olympiad | |||||||||||||||||
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Venue | Maurice Richard Arena, Montreal | ||||||||||||||||
Dates | 19–31 July | ||||||||||||||||
Competitors | 19 from 19 nations | ||||||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||||||
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Boxing at the 1976 Summer Olympics | |
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Light flyweight | men |
Flyweight | men |
Bantamweight | men |
Featherweight | men |
Lightweight | men |
Light welterweight | men |
Welterweight | men |
Light middleweight | men |
Middleweight | men |
Light heavyweight | men |
Heavyweight | men |
The men's middleweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 75 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 19 to 31 July 1976. 19 boxers from 19 nations competed. [1]
Gold | Michael Spinks United States |
Silver | Rufat Riskiyev Soviet Union |
Bronze | Luis Martínez Cuba |
Bronze | Alec Năstac Romania |
The following boxers took part in the event: [1]
Rank | Name | Country |
---|---|---|
1 | Michael Spinks | United States |
2 | Rufat Riskiyev | Soviet Union |
3T | Luis Martínez | Cuba |
3T | Alec Năstac | Romania |
5T | Ryszard Pasiewicz | Poland |
5T | Dragan Vujković | Yugoslavia |
5T | Fernando Martins | Brazil |
5T | Siraj Din | Pakistan |
9T | Jean-Pierre Malavasi | France |
9T | Dave Odwell | Great Britain |
9T | Phil McElwaine | Australia |
9T | Bernd Wittenburg | East Germany |
9T | Ilian Dimitrov | Bulgaria |
14T | Carlos Betancourt | Puerto Rico |
14T | Bryan Gibson | Canada |
14T | Nicolás Arredondo | Mexico |
14T | Mohamed Saoud | Morocco |
14T | Fulgencio Obelmejias | Venezuela |
14T | Jorma Taipale | Finland |
In the gold medal bout, American rookie Spinks faced the veteran Soviet Rufat Riskiyev, the 1974 World Champion. Riskiyev had defeated Spinks at a match in Tashkent early in 1976, but in the final, Spinks landed a telling body blow in round three, and the referee had to stop the contest, giving Spinks, just 19 years of age, the gold medal.
Spinks, whose brother, Leon, won the light-heavyweight gold medal in Montreal, turned professional. In 1981 he won the WBA light-heavyweight world title by defeating Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. Michael Spinks would hold a version of the light-heavyweight title through 1985 when he moved up to the heavies and defeated Larry Holmes to win the IBF heavyweight crown, the first light-heavyweight champion to move on to become heavyweight world champ. Spinks fought through 1988, winning his first 31 fights, but he retired after losing a heavyweight title fight that year to Mike Tyson.
Riskiyev, who was 27 at the time of the 1976 Olympics, stayed in the amateurs, as the Soviet system did not allow any athletes to turn pro, though he didn’t achieve further success. [2]
Rufat Asadovich Riskiyev is a retired boxer, who represented the USSR at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. There he won the silver medal in the middleweight division. In the final he was defeated by United States youngster Michael Spinks, after the referee had to stop the contest in the third round.
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