Degale of Britain wins men´s 75kg boxing gold

Source: Xinhua | 08-23-2008 21:58

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- British middleweight (75 kg) boxer James Degale won the title at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Saturday, beating Emilio Correa Bayeaux from Cuba at 16-14 in the final.

James Degale (red) of Great Britain competes against Emilio Correa Bayeaux of Cuba during Men's Middle (75kg) Final Bout of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games boxing event at Workers' Gymnasium in Beijing, China, Aug. 23, 2008. James Degale defeated Emilio Correa Bayeaux  and won the gold medal of the event. (Xinhua Photo)

Degale made it at 10-4 at the end of the second round. In the next two rounds, he managed to get points back whenever Bayeaux succeeded in landing punches on him.

It is kind of wresting as both boxers hugged closely with each other. The two fell to the ground together for at least three times, not to mention the falls of one of them.

Degale, 22, began boxing at the age of 10, when his dad and granddad took him to a gym in north-west London, as they thought he had more than energy to release and a natural fighting flair.

The Cuban boxer failed to emulate his father, the champion of welterweight at the 1972 Olympic Games, to win an Olympic gold.

However, Bayeaux said he received a message from his father, "he told me that I should take care of myself and that I have nothing to be worried about, because he is convinced that I'm going to make all the people in Cuba happy with my medal (Gold or Silver)."

The bronze medals went to Darren John Sutherland from Ireland and Vijender Kumar from India.

Editor:Xiong Qu