Emmanuel Reyes is Spain’s first Olympic boxing medallist after 24 years

Spain’s Emmanuel Reyes achieved his nation’s first Olympic boxing medal since Rafael Lozano’s silver in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Finland’s lone boxer in the Paris Olympics, Pihla Kaivo-Oja exceeded all of the expectations in the session when she demonstrated her technical skills against United States’ Jennifer Lozano. Both light flyweight (50kg) boxers were born in 2002 but Kaivo-Oja was better today in the exchanges and she joined the quarter-finals.

Turkey’s strong duo such as Busenaz Cakiroglu and Busenaz Surmeneli both competed in the sixth day of boxing in Paris. Cakiroglu eliminated Mexico’s Fatima Patricia Herrera with excellent technical skills but Surmeneli had to do her very best against Poland’s experienced Aneta Rygielska today.

Canada’s best Olympic hope in boxing, Tammara Thibeault was surprisingly eliminated by a Refugee boxer but their Panamerican Games winner Wyatt Sanford proved his excellent punching power in Paris today. The Canadian had the right game play against Uzbekistan’s World Champion Ruslan Abdullayev and he is now a guaranteed medallist in the Games.

France’s Sofiane Oumiha is the main gold medal contender at the men’s light welterweight (63.5kg) and he used his excellent long-distance tactics effectively against Hungary’s Richard Kovacs.

Emmanuel Reyes was quarter-finalist in the Tokyo Olympic Games three years ago and he was highly motivated to win his second chance for a medal in Paris. The Spaniard controlled his contest against Belgium’s World bronze medallist Victor Schelstraete which means that he will be able to box against Azerbaijan’s Loren Berto Alfonso in the semi-finals of the heavyweight (92kg).

Cuba’s Erislandy Alvarez has done a great job in the quarter-finals against Thailand’s Asian Champion Bunjong Sinsiri and he secured a medal in the Paris Olympics. South Korea’s Im Ae Ji and Tajikistan’s Davlat Boltayev also achieved medals for their nations after a break in their Olympic boxing history.