Welterweight (≤80 kilograms), Men

The favorites in this class were Ramin Əzizov (AZE), two-time Olympic champion Steven Lopez (USA), and the 2011 World Champion at 87 kg, Iran’s Youssef Karami. But form would not hold in this class as all lost early. Karami went out in the first round to Nicolás García of Spain, and García would advance to the final. Lopez lost in the round of 16 to Əzizov, after he was hampered by an ankle injury. But Əzizov lost his quarter-final match to Italy’s Mauro Sarmiento, who then lost to García.

The gold medal eventually went to Argentina’s Sebastian Crismanich, whose only previous major title was the relatively undistinguished 2011 Pan American Games gold medal. Crismanich had a fortunate draw and did not face any major favorites in getting to the final. The final was a defensive struggle, with no score thru two rounds, only to see Crismanich score a decisive kick with 19 seconds remaining, to win 1-0. The bronze medals were shared by Sarmiento and Britain’s Lutalo Muhammad, who had lost in the quarter-finals to García.