Russia’s Evgeny Tishchenko won the Olympic heavyweight boxing gold medal to a chorus of boos on Monday after beating Kazakhstan’s Vasily Levit 3-0 on points.
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The majority of the audience, in a Riocentro arena that was barely half full, reacted to the score announcement with derision while a pocket of Russian fans waved flags and celebrated.
Savon, a Cuban fighter, and Uzbekistan’s Rustam Tulaganov, another semi-final contender, both won bronze medals.
There were more boos during the medal ceremony, although Levit gestured for silence by putting a finger to his lips.
A gracious Levit beckoned to the crowd to give his Russian opponent a more respectful reception and the Kazakh said afterwards: “I came for gold but at the last step failed so I didn’t fulfil the program 100 percent, but that’s life”. The 25-year-old Tishchenko, at 1.96 meters tall used his height and reach to overcome his opponent, a 28-year-old former welterweight world champion, who took home the silver.
Levit stepped up a gear in the third, with Tishchenko slipping and losing his balance.
To his increasing irritation, he was asked whether he considered himself a worthy victor and whether he agreed with the outcome. Though disappointed with the crowd’s reaction, Tishchenko said: “I didn’t think there were any claims with regards to the officiating from the referee”.
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“I think that if the referee gave the victory to me, there was a good reason to do so”. “I just can not understand why they booed in such an outrageous way”. Enough people in the crowd felt the silver medalist Levit deserved the victory to make an impression. But if the referee made a bad decision and the officiating was not correct then I will be very sad for Vassiliy. “But you see how it ended up”.
