Shiming Zou of China, the defending Olympic champion and the AIBA world champion, won another gold medal today as he beat Kaeo Pongprayoon of Thailand in the light flyweight final in London.
Zou was technically superior than Pongprayoon over the first couple of rounds, and led by a score of 6-4 after those first two rounds were finished.
The third round was a bizarre one, with both of the combatants being penalized. Pongprayoon was extremely aggressive and Zou was becoming affected by the pressure. As a result, he started to push, and the referee cited him for that. The penalty was two points, and in amateur boxing, when a boxer gets penalized points, they are added to the opponent’s score.
Well, the same thing happened to Pongprayoon just a few moments later, essentially making it a wash. For him, though, this was fatal, as it contributed to creating a margin that he could just not overcome.
Pongprayoon obviously did not agree with the penalty points, and banged his fist down onto the canvas in anger after the verdict was announced. Then his coach came forward and raised Pongprayoon’s arm, as if to declare that he was really the man who deserved the victory. The crowd was not crazy about that.
Zou this wins his second straight gold medal in the light flyweight division, and he adds that to his three world championships to stamp himself as one of the best ever in the amateur ranks in this weight class.
If one would consider this victory to be somewhat tainted, though, it would be the second straight time in the Olympics for that as well. In 2008 in Beijing, Zou won the gold medal match when opponent Pürevdorjiin Serdamba of Mongolia had to retire fro the bout with a shoulder injury.