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Boxing at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Middleweight

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Middleweight boxing
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
VenueMaurice Richard Arena, Montreal
Dates19–31 July
Competitors19 from 19 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Michael Spinks  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Rufat Riskiyev  Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Luis Martínez  Cuba
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Alec Năstac  Romania
← 1972
1980 →

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]

Medalists

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Gold Michael Spinks
 United States
Silver Rufat Riskiyev
 Soviet Union
Bronze Luis Martínez
 Cuba
Bronze Alec Năstac
 Romania

Results

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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

First round

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Second round

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Quarterfinals

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Semifinals

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Final

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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]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Boxing at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Men's Middleweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Montreal 1976 Boxing - Olympic Results by Discipline".