48th victory in a row and revenge for defeat at the World Cup: how boxers Gadzhimagomedov and Batyrgaziev made it to the finals at the Olympics

In Tokyo, the names of the participants in the decisive stages and the winners of the Olympic boxing tournament continue to be determined. On the 11th day of the competition, gold medals were played in the category up to 69 kilograms for men and up to 57 kilograms for women, which went to Cuban Ronel Iglesias and Japanese woman Sena Irie, respectively. In addition, men fought for tickets to the finals in featherweight and heavy weights, including representatives of Russia - Albert Batyrgaziev and Muslim Gadzhimagomedov.

The first to enter the Olympic ring was Gadzhimagomedov, who was rightfully considered one of the main contenders for the gold of the Games. He approached the Olympics in the status of the reigning world champion, and also had a streak of 47 victories in a row. During his amateur career, he lost only five times, and the last defeat was dated August 2017. At the championship of the planet in Hamburg, he lost to Kazakhstani Bektemir Melikuziev - the future holder of the WBO Intercontinental title and the failed rival of Sergei Kovalev. True, then the Russian fought in the light heavyweight division, and after the transition he never conceded.

This has not happened even now. Gadzhimagomedov was opposed by David Niika, a two-time gold medalist of the Commonwealth Games, who never became a medalist of world championships. And the last time his campaign to the medal was cut short was in a duel with a Russian. Two years ago, opponents clashed in the second round of the World Championship in Yekaterinburg, and the winner was determined by unanimous decision. In Tokyo, the New Zealander has already guaranteed himself a bronze medal, but again he could not offer serious resistance to Muslim.

It took the Russian for some time to adapt to the left-handed opponent, but subsequently there were no problems. He excelled his counterpart in both footwork and punches, constantly outstripping him in exchanges. Niika tried to knock down the enemy's pressure with clinches, but this did not bring much dividends. Combinations of Gadzhimagomedov on a regular basis achieved the goal and allowed him to win the favor of the judges. He only slightly loosened his grip at the end of the final round, which was not surprising. The referees' assessments are announced after each segment, therefore, Muslim knew perfectly well that either an early defeat or a knockdown could prevent him from reaching the final.

It is noteworthy that the fight between Gadzhimagomedov and Niika once again gave reason to reflect on how inexplicable the criteria for refereeing in modern amateur boxing are sometimes. As a result of the fight, three judges at once gave the Russian all three rounds, and another one - two out of three, which can be considered almost unanimous statement of his dominance in the ring. At the same time, the referee from Argentina voted for the New Zealander, and recorded all three segments in his asset - 30:27. It is difficult to say what exactly Roberto Fernando Servide was guided by, but he failed to prevent Muslim from reaching the final.

“The Argentine judge should be disqualified altogether. I don't know what he was doing, maybe he was looking at the phone. I think it should be completely removed, then boxing will become cleaner, ”TASS quotes Gadzhimagomedov, who will face the Olympic champion, Cuban Julio Cesar la Cruz in the final.

Batyrgaziev, on the other hand, had a much more difficult time. And this is not surprising, because in the semifinals he got a much more formidable opponent. Lazaro Alvarez had three world titles in his track record, as well as two bronze medals of the Games, which made him one of the most experienced participants in the Olympic featherweight tournament. In addition, until now, he has already defeated Albert twice. For the first time, Alvarez defeated him during the match confrontation between the national teams of Russia and Cuba, which took place in Volgograd in 2018, and a year later at the world championship in Yekaterinburg.

The Cuban's plan was extremely simple - to act as the second number, to catch the opponent on counterattacks and "score points" - to work exclusively on the number of accurate hits, while neglecting their power. And for a while, this tactic bore fruit. This is confirmed by the notes of the judges who gave him the first three minutes. And this is taking into account the fact that it was the Russian who pressed more and delivered more accented blows.

In the second round, Batyrgaziev's pressure increased. Either the 30-year-old Alvarez got a little tired, or his young opponent felt confident in his abilities, but there were more bright episodes with Albert's participation. The Cuban often had to literally flee, which could hardly be assessed positively. As a result, on the eve of the final segment the score was equal - one referee sided with each of the athletes, and three had an equal score on the cards.

The decisive three minutes are difficult to assess unequivocally. Batyrgaziev was clearly tired, but continued to go forward, throwing out more powerful and biting punches, and Alvarez continued to rely on quantity, not quality. Although his attacks achieved their goal, they did not carry danger. Nevertheless, most of the judges preferred Lazaro in this round, but not those that could ensure his victory. Ultimately, the votes were distributed in this way - two for the Cuban (29:28 and 30:27), and three for the Russian (all - 29:28). Albert will compete for gold with American Duke Ragan.

At the same time, Russia was left without medal hopes in the lightweight division.

Gabil Mammadov was unable to overcome the barrier of the quarterfinals, being defeated by American Keishon Davis.

The fight turned out to be not only spectacular, but also extremely tense, and the final round became decisive, during which the domestic boxer almost ended up on the floor.

Davis also preferred to act as a number two, but differed from Alvarez in that he could proudly bear the title of a dangerous counterpunch.

He was not trying to trite to surpass Mamedov in the number of accurate hits, but wanted to decide the outcome of the duel ahead of schedule, which was captivating.

The same can be said about Gabil, who actively rushed forward and did not hesitate to enter into aggressive exchanges.

It was a little embarrassing how passively he behaved in the clinch, often demonstratively dropping his hands.

During the battle, Davis was remembered for a couple of not the most beautiful moments. In the clinch, he was clearly nervous and several times threw Mamedov away from him, and once he completely laid him on the canvas with the help of a footboard. But still the most striking episode also fell on the lot of the American. In the third round, he succeeded in a combination of a right straight to the body and two lateral to the jaw, which shocked the Russian. He barely kept his feet, and the referee in the ring had no choice but to open an account. It was then that Keishon won over all five judges to his side, ensuring himself a victory and access to the semifinals of the Olympics - 4: 1.