Cuba's Yuriorkis Gamboa outpointed Frenchman Jerome Thomas to win gold in the Olympic boxing flyweight category. Gamboa, one of seven Cubans in the Athens finals, put his opponent under pressure with flashing left-right combinations from the opening bell.
Swift footwork and superior hand speed helped the gifted 22-year-old to a comfortable 38-23 decision.
Thomas, a bronze medallist four years ago, became the first Frenchman to win two Olympic boxing medals.
Gamboa's compatriot Yudel Johnson had to settle for silver as he was outpointed by Thailand's Manus Boonjumnong for the light-welterweight title.
Manus relied on an awkward, yet effective style to frustrate the more spectacular Cuban and win a 17-11 decision.
 |  I fought for my King, who urged me to be strong |
Johnson kept battling on but his opponent counter-punched methodically. With the victory secured, Manus avoided the Cuban by running around the ring in the final round, prompting a few jeers from the crowd at the Peristeri hall.
Russian Alexei Tichtchenko outpointed North Korea's Kim Song-guk to win the featherweight title.
The 20-year-old was by far the more active boxer and kept finding his way through his opponent's porous guard despite a handicap in reach.
Kim suffered from the opening round and soon found himself trailing on points.
He closed the gap slightly in the third round but the Russian stayed firmly in control to win a comfortable 39-17 decision.
Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov won Russia's second title by taking the middleweight gold, outpointing Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan 28-18.
American Andre Dirrell and Thailand's Suriya Prasathinphimai took the bronze medals.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
The defining images