Brazil's Robson Conceicao wins historic boxing gold at home
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Lightweight Robson Conceicao won Brazil's first Olympic boxing gold medal Tuesday night, delighting a frenzied home crowd with a clear unanimous decision over France's Sofiane Oumiha.
The largest boxing crowd of the Olympics filled the arena with songs, cheers and foot-stomping craziness for Conceicao, who grew up poor in Salvador and channeled his aggression into his sport.
The 27-year-old three-time Olympian reached the peak of his skills just in time for his home games, storming through his bracket as the third seed and winning gold.
Brazil had won one silver and three bronze boxing medals in its modest Olympic boxing history, but Conceicao proved he deserved his gold with a strong performance against Oumiha. Conceicao's elusiveness, aggressiveness and creative punching kept Oumiha frustrated and hurt for the first two rounds, and a solid third was too late for the Frenchman.
Conceicao collapsed to his knees when the decision was announced. He then jumped against the turnbuckle and onto the ropes, waving his adoration at the singing, roaring crowd. He eventually climbed out of the ring to kiss his young daughter and his wife, Erika Mattos, who is also a boxer.
Conceicao claimed Brazil's third gold medal of its home games, joining men's pole vault champion Thiago Braz da Silva and women's judo lightweight Rafaela Silva.
Conceicao fought back tears on the medal stand while singing the Brazilian national anthem.
He is an appropriate trailblazer in a sport without a rabid passion or fan base in Brazil. Conceicao fights aggressively, but with an elusive fluidity that contains hints of capoeira, samba and the clever style of Anderson Silva, Brazil's greatest mixed martial artist.
Unlike most of his Brazilian teammates, Conceicao is a tested veteran and a serious contender for the top honors in amateur boxing. Along with his Olympic experience in Beijing and London, he finished second at the 2013 world championships and third in 2015.
After receiving an opening bye, Conceicao advanced to the gold-medal match with a quarterfinal win over Uzbekistan's Hurshid Tojibaev and a spectacular semifinal victory over Cuba's Lazaro Alvarez, a three-time world champion and two-time Olympic bronze medalist.
Although Conceicao clearly won his final bout, home teams have received a boxing bump in the previous two Olympics, with years of improved preparation culminating in heartwarming victories in front raucous home crowds.
China won its first two boxing gold medals among its Olympics-leading four total medals from the Beijing tournament in 2008. Britain led the London Olympics with three gold medals and finished second with five total medals.
Brazil has just one fighter left in Rio: Middleweight Andreia Bandeira, who fights China's Li Quan for a medal Wednesday.