Olympic Update: Ward Fighting For Gold, Saitov upset.

By Scott Shaffer

27/08/2004

Olympic Update: Ward Fighting For Gold, Saitov upset.

The two remaining American Olympian boxers have split their semifinal matches in Athens today. Andre Ward defeated Utkirbek Haydarov of Uzbekistan by just two official punches, 17-15. Tomorrow, he will have the opportunity to become the first American gold medalist since David Reid in 1996 when he faces Magomed Aripgadjiev of Belarus. Aripgradjiev advanced against Egypt's Ahmed Ismail. Meanwhile, Andre Dirrell will take home a bronze medal in the middleweight division after losing 23-18 to Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan. Golovkin's opponent in the finals will be Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov of Russia. Gaydarbekov's more famous teammate, Oleg Saitov, was upset in his bid for a third gold medal by another Kazakh, Bakhtiyar Artayev, 20-18. Artayev will face Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba for the gold. In the lightweight division, British teenage sensation Amir Khan made it to the gold medal bout by beating Serik Yeleuov, 40-26. Khan has his work cut out for him tomorrow as he must defeat Mario Kindelan of Cuba in order to become an Olympic champion.