Wyatt Sanford guaranteed an Olympic medal in boxing

Wyatt Sanford (Instagram)

Wyatt Sanford of Kennetcook, Nova Scotia has guaranteed a Canadian Olympic medal in men’s boxing. On Thursday at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Sanford defeated Ruslan Abdullaev of Uzbekistan 4-1 in his quarterfinal bout and is now off to the semifinals. Due to the fact in Olympic boxing that there are no bronze medal bouts, the quarterfinal winners are guaranteed Olympic medals.

This was Sanford’s second victory in the men’s 63.5 kilogram weight class. He previously beat Radoslav Rosenov of Bulgaria 5-0 in a round of 16 match on Monday.

In Sanford’s win over Abdullaev, the boxer from Uzbekistan was the better fighter at the beginning of the bout. The second round was relatively even, before Sanford had a strong finish. In Sanford’s win over Rosenov, Sanford was the better boxer for the first two rounds, before Rosenov won round three.

Next up for Sanford in the semifinals is Sofiane Oumiha of France, the three-time world champion in the lightweight division, and the silver medalist from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The other semifinal has Erislandy Alvarez of Cuba versus Lasha Guruli of Georgia.

Canada has won 17 medals in the history of the Olympic Games, and Sanford will be Canada’s 18th medalist. The last Canadian to win a medal in boxing was the late David Defiagbon, who won the silver medal in the men’s heavyweight division at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. 

 

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