Heavyweight: Solis (Cuba) defeats Zuyev (Belarus) Odlanier Solis continued Cuba’s absolute dominance of Olympic heavyweight boxing by outboxing Belarus’ Viktor Zuyev to capture Cuba’s second gold medal of the day. Solis, who was far more athletic than the left-handed Zuyev, boxed with his hands down but was
never in danger during his 22-13 victory. It was the seventh straight heavyweight gold for Cuba in Olympics in which they have participated. Teofilo Stevenson won three times from 1972-1980, Cuba boycotted the next two Olympics and then Felix Savon won thrice from 1992-2000. Savon was unable to compete this time around due to a discriminatory rule barring anyone over 34 years of age from boxing in the Olympics. But Solis was able to join Cuba’s canon of legends. The heavyweight division, with a weight limit of 201 pounds, is the equivalent of the cruiserweight division (200 pounds) in the pro game.The remaining six gold medal bouts, including the superheavyweights, will be contested tomorrow. Bronze medals: Mohamed Elsayed (Egypt), Naser Al Shami (Syria)