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Light-Heavyweight (≤81 kilograms), Men

Date24 July – 4 August 1996
StatusOlympic
LocationAlexander Memorial Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants31 from 31 countries
FormatSingle elimination tournament.

Antonio Tarver, already favourite for the Olympic title after being crowned world champion in 1995, was given a further boost shortly before the Games began when his predecessor as world champion, Ramon Garbey of Cuba, defected to the United States.

Tarver began his Olympic campaign in fine style with three clear victories but the semi-final brought a massive disappointment for the home crowd when Vasily Zhirov proved too strong for the American and ran out a clear victor by a 15-9 margin.

By then Zhirov had already accounted for his main European rival Pietro Aurino and had only to see off the challenge of Korean Lee Seung-Bae to win gold for Kazakhstan. Lee had moved up from the middleweight division since winning a bronze medal in Barcelona and was much the smaller man of the two finalists. He was unable to cope with the size and speed of Zhirov and was susceptible to the body punches of the Kazakh fighter. In the final round Zhirov stepped up the place and forced a standing eight count on the Korean. His performances earned the Kazakh fighter the Val Barker Award as the outstanding boxer of the tournament.

Zhirov and Tarver both had long and successful careers as professionals and both had long spells as world champion. Tarver notably had a memorable series of fights against [Roy Jones, Jr.] (/athletes/8704) and won two of their three fights.

PosCompetitorNOC
1Vasily ZhirovKAZGold
2Lee Seung-BaeKORSilver
=3Antonio TarverUSABronze
=3Thomas UlrichGERBronze
5Enrique FloresPUR
6Troy Amos-RossCAN
7Daniel Andrade JúniorBRA
8Stipe DrvišCRO
=9David KowahSLE
=9Sybrand BotesRSA
=9Paul MbongoCMR
=9Pietro AurinoITA
=9Jean-Louis MandengueFRA
=9Ismael KonéSWE
=9Temur IbragimovUZB
=9Freddy RojasCUB
=17Dmitry VybornovRUS
=17Gabriel HernándezDOM
=17Gurcharan SinghIND
=17Roland RaformeSEY
=17Julio César GonzálezMEX
=17Yusuf ÖztürkTUR
=17Khadour AdnanSYR
=17Ayoub PourtaghiIRI
=17İlham KərimovAZE
=17Rick TimperiAUS
=17John DouglasGUY
=17Rostyslav ZaulychnyiUKR
=17Sam LeuiiSAM
=17Mohamed MahmoudEGY
=17Peter OdhiamboKEN

Round One

Date24 July 1996 — 15:06
FormatWinner of each match advanced to the second round.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #124 Jul 15:06David KowahSLE
Match #224 Jul 15:18Antonio TarverUSADecisionDmitry VybornovRUS
Match #324 Jul 15:30Sybrand BotesRSADecisionGabriel HernándezDOM
Match #424 Jul 15:42Enrique FloresPURDecisionGurcharan SinghIND
Match #524 Jul 15:54Troy Amos-RossCANKnock-outRoland RaformeSEY
Match #624 Jul 16:06Paul MbongoCMRDecisionPeter OdhiamboKEN
Match #724 Jul 16:18Vasily ZhirovKAZReferee stops contestJulio César GonzálezMEX
Match #824 Jul 16:30Pietro AurinoITADecisionYusuf ÖztürkTUR
Match #924 Jul 21:36Daniel Andrade JúniorBRADecisionKhadour AdnanSYR
Match #1024 Jul 21:48Jean-Louis MandengueFRADecisionAyoub PourtaghiIRI
Match #1124 Jul 22:00Ismael KonéSWEDecisionİlham KərimovAZE
Match #1224 Jul 22:12Thomas UlrichGERDecisionRick TimperiAUS
Match #1324 Jul 22:24Stipe DrvišCROReferee stops contestJohn DouglasGUY
Match #1424 Jul 22:36Temur IbragimovUZBDecisionRostyslav ZaulychnyiUKR
Match #1524 Jul 22:48Lee Seung-BaeKORDecisionSam LeuiiSAM
Match #1624 Jul 23:00Freddy RojasCUBDecisionMohamed MahmoudEGY

Round Two

Date28 July 1996 — 15:06
FormatWinner of each match advanced to the quarter-finals.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #128 Jul 15:06Antonio TarverUSAReferee stops contestDavid KowahSLE
Match #228 Jul 15:18Enrique FloresPURDecisionSybrand BotesRSA
Match #328 Jul 15:30Troy Amos-RossCANDecisionPaul MbongoCMR
Match #428 Jul 15:42Vasily ZhirovKAZDecisionPietro AurinoITA
Match #528 Jul 21:36Daniel Andrade JúniorBRAReferee stops contest (head blow)Jean-Louis MandengueFRA
Match #628 Jul 21:48Thomas UlrichGERDecisionIsmael KonéSWE
Match #728 Jul 22:00Stipe DrvišCRODecisionTemur IbragimovUZB
Match #828 Jul 22:12Lee Seung-BaeKORDecisionFreddy RojasCUB

Quarter-Finals

Date31 July 1996 — 15:06
FormatWinner of each match advanced to the semi-finals.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #131 Jul 15:06Antonio TarverUSAReferee stops contest (head blow)Enrique FloresPUR
Match #231 Jul 15:18Vasily ZhirovKAZDecisionTroy Amos-RossCAN
Match #331 Jul 21:36Thomas UlrichGERDecisionDaniel Andrade JúniorBRA
Match #431 Jul 21:48Lee Seung-BaeKORDecisionStipe DrvišCRO

Semi-Finals

Date2 August 1996 — 21:36
FormatWinner of each match advanced to the final match.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match #102 Aug 21:36Vasily ZhirovKAZDecisionAntonio TarverUSA
Match #202 Aug 21:48Lee Seung-BaeKORDecisionThomas UlrichGER

Final Round

Date4 August 1996 — 15:02
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorNOCResultCompetitorNOC
Match 1/204 Aug 15:02Vasily ZhirovKAZDecisionLee Seung-BaeKOR