| | Event type

Heavyweight (81-91 kilograms), Men

Date	24 July – 6 August 2021
Status	Olympic
Location	Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Sumida, Tokyo, Japan
Participants	17 from 17 countries
Format	Single elimination tournament.

By winning the world championships in 2019, Muslim Gadzhimagomedov of Russia established himself as a clear favourite for the Olympic title. Back then his only competitive fight had been against Kazakhstan’s Vasily Levit so when Levit was knocked out by Pedro Reyes of Spain in his first bout in Tokyo it appeared that Gadzhimagomedov had a clear run to the gold.

Unfortunately for the Russian, this seriously underestimated the claims of Julio César la Cruz, the reigning light-heavyweight Olympic champion. The Cuban, who still had the scars of an armed robbery from 2014 where he been shot in the hip, totally outclassed the man from Dagestan who had not a lost a fight in the previous five years.

For the bronze medals, David Nyika of New Zealand survived an attempt at being bitten to share a medal in his first bout with the unheralded Abner Teixeira of Brazil.

Pos	Competitor	NOC
1	Julio César la Cruz	CUB	Gold
2	Muslim Gadzhimagomedov	ROC	Silver
=3	Abner Teixeira	BRA	Bronze
=3	David Nyika	NZL	Bronze
=5	Enmanuel Reyes	ESP
=5	Ammar Abduljabbar	GER
=5	Hussein Iashaish	JOR
=5	Uladzislau Smiahlikau	BLR
=9	Elly Ajowi Ochola	KEN
=9	Abdelhafid Benchabla	ALG
=9	Cheavon Clarke	GBR
=9	Vasily Levit	KAZ
=9	José Lúcar	PER
=9	Julio Castillo	ECU
=9	Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali	SAM
16	Sanjar Tursunov	UZB
DQ	Youness Baalla	MAR		1

Round One

Date	24 July 2021 — 14:12
Format	Winner of each match advanced to the second round.

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1		Muslim Gadzhimagomedov	ROC
Match #2	24 Jul 14:12	Abdelhafid Benchabla	ALG	Decision	Sanjar Tursunov	UZB
Match #3		Ammar Abduljabbar	GER
Match #4		José Lúcar	PER
Match #5		Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali	SAM
Match #6		Uladzislau Smiahlikau	BLR
Match #7		Youness Baalla	MAR
Match #8		David Nyika	NZL
Match #9		Julio Castillo	ECU
Match #10		Hussein Iashaish	JOR
Match #11		Abner Teixeira	BRA
Match #12		Cheavon Clarke	GBR
Match #13		Elly Ajowi Ochola	KEN
Match #14		Julio César la Cruz	CUB
Match #15		Enmanuel Reyes	ESP
Match #16		Vasily Levit	KAZ

Round Two

Date	27 July 2021 — 12:03
Format	Winner of each match advanced to the quarter-finals.

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	27 Jul 12:03	Muslim Gadzhimagomedov	ROC	Decision	Abdelhafid Benchabla	ALG
Match #2	27 Jul 12:18	Ammar Abduljabbar	GER	Decision	José Lúcar	PER
Match #3	27 Jul 12:36	Uladzislau Smiahlikau	BLR	Decision	Ato Plodzicki-Faoagali	SAM
Match #4	27 Jul 12:51	David Nyika	NZL	Dq	Youness Baalla	MAR
Match #5	27 Jul 18:03	Hussein Iashaish	JOR	Decision	Julio Castillo	ECU
Match #6	27 Jul 18:18	Abner Teixeira	BRA	Decision	Cheavon Clarke	GBR
Match #7	27 Jul 18:36	Julio César la Cruz	CUB	Decision	Elly Ajowi Ochola	KEN
Match #8	27 Jul 18:51	Enmanuel Reyes	ESP	Knockout	Vasily Levit	KAZ

Quarter-Finals

Date	30 July 2021 — 13:39
Format	Winner of each match advanced to the semi-finals.

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	30 Jul 13:39	Muslim Gadzhimagomedov	ROC	Decision	Ammar Abduljabbar	GER
Match #2	30 Jul 13:54	David Nyika	NZL	Decision	Uladzislau Smiahlikau	BLR
Match #3	30 Jul 19:39	Abner Teixeira	BRA	Decision	Hussein Iashaish	JOR
Match #4	30 Jul 19:54	Julio César la Cruz	CUB	Decision	Enmanuel Reyes	ESP

Semi-Finals

Date	3 August 2021 — 12:30
Format	Winner of each match advanced to the final match.

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	03 Aug 12:30	Muslim Gadzhimagomedov	ROC	Decision	David Nyika	NZL
Match #2	03 Aug 19:06	Julio César la Cruz	CUB	Decision	Abner Teixeira	BRA

Final Round

Date	6 August 2021 — 15:05

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match 1/2	06 Aug 15:05	Julio César la Cruz	CUB	Decision	Muslim Gadzhimagomedov	ROC