| | Event type
Light-Flyweight, Greco-Roman (≤48 kilograms), Men
| Date | 20 – 22 July 1980 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Legkoatletichesky manezh, Legkoatletichesky Futbolny Kompleks CSKA, Moskva | |
| Participants | 10 from 10 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by negative points, with negative points given for any result short of a fall. Accumulation of 6 negative points eliminated the wrestler. | |
The heavy favorite was Romanian Constantin Alexandru, who was 1978-79 World Champion and 1974-75 and 1977-79 European Champion. Unfortunately, because wrestling was not seeded in this era, he met Soviet Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov in the first round, and lost by decision, 6-2, and that decided the gold medal as neither lost any of their remaining matches. Hungarian Ferenc Seres also made the final round and won the bronze medal. No final round matches were necessary as Seres had already lost earlier to both Ushkempirov and Alexandru, both by decision. Ushkempirov would later win the 1981 World Championships.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | RE | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov |  URS | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Constantin Alexandru |  ROU | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Ferenc Seres |  HUN | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Pavel Hristov |  BUL | – | – | |||
| 5 | Reijo Haaparanta |  FIN | – | – | |||
| 6 | Alfredo Olvera |  MEX | – | – | |||
| 7 | Vincenzo Maenza |  ITA | – | – | |||
| 8 | Roman Kierpacz |  POL | – | – | |||
| Kent Andersson |  SWE | Eliminated r2/5 | 8,0 | ||||
| Saber Nakdali |  SYR | Eliminated r2/5 | 8,0 |
Round One (20 July 1980 — 10:00)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Pavel Hristov | BUL | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Ferenc Seres | HUN | 0,0 | |||
| =1 | Alfredo Olvera | MEX | 0,0 | |||
| =4 | Reijo Haaparanta | FIN | 1,0 | |||
| =4 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov | URS | 1,0 | |||
| =6 | Vincenzo Maenza | ITA | 3,0 | |||
| =6 | Constantin Alexandru | ROU | 3,0 | |||
| =8 | Roman Kierpacz | POL | 4,0 | |||
| =8 | Kent Andersson | SWE | 4,0 | |||
| =8 | Saber Nakdali | SYR | 4,0 |
| Match #1 | Reijo Haaparanta | FIN | decision (10-9) | Vincenzo Maenza | ITA |
| Match #2 | Pavel Hristov | BUL | DQ (8:16) | Kent Andersson | SWE |
| Match #3 | Alfredo Olvera | MEX | fall (4:44) | Saber Nakdali | SYR |
| Match #4 | Ferenc Seres | HUN | fall (1:32) | Roman Kierpacz | POL |
| Match #5 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov | URS | decision (6-2) | Constantin Alexandru | ROU |
Round Two (20 July 1980 — 19:00)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Pavel Hristov | BUL | 0,5 | |||
| =1 | Ferenc Seres | HUN | 0,5 | |||
| 3 | Reijo Haaparanta | FIN | 1,0 | |||
| 4 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov | URS | 2,0 | |||
| 5 | Constantin Alexandru | ROU | 3,0 | |||
| 6 | Alfredo Olvera | MEX | 3,5 | |||
| 7 | Vincenzo Maenza | ITA | 6,5 | eliminated | ||
| 8 | Roman Kierpacz | POL | 7,0 | eliminated | ||
| =9 | Kent Andersson | SWE | 8,0 | eliminated | ||
| =9 | Saber Nakdali | SYR | 8,0 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Pavel Hristov | BUL | decision (14-4) | Vincenzo Maenza | ITA |
| Match #2 | Reijo Haaparanta | FIN | fall (8:36) | Kent Andersson | SWE |
| Match #3 | Ferenc Seres | HUN | decision (13-5) | Alfredo Olvera | MEX |
| Match #4 | Constantin Alexandru | ROU | fall (1:16) | Saber Nakdali | SYR |
| Match #5 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov | URS | decision (13-10) | Roman Kierpacz | POL |
Round Three (21 July 1980 — 11:00)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pavel Hristov | BUL | 0,5 | |||
| 2 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov | URS | 2,5 | |||
| 3 | Constantin Alexandru | ROU | 3,0 | |||
| 4 | Ferenc Seres | HUN | 4,0 | |||
| 5 | Reijo Haaparanta | FIN | 5,0 | |||
| 6 | Alfredo Olvera | MEX | 7,5 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Pavel Hristov | BUL | decision (27-0) | Reijo Haaparanta | FIN |
| Match #2 | Constantin Alexandru | ROU | fall (2:29) | Alfredo Olvera | MEX |
| Match #3 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov | URS | decision (17-6) | Ferenc Seres | HUN |
Round Four (21 July 1980 — 19:45)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov | URS | 2,5 | |||
| 2 | Constantin Alexandru | ROU | 3,0 | |||
| 3 | Ferenc Seres | HUN | 4,0 | |||
| 4 | Pavel Hristov | BUL | 4,5 | |||
| 5 | Reijo Haaparanta | FIN | 9,0 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Ferenc Seres | HUN | decision (17-2) | Reijo Haaparanta | FIN |
| Match #2 | Constantin Alexandru | ROU | DQ (7:34) | Pavel Hristov | BUL |
| Match #3 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov | URS | bye |
Final Round (22 July 1980 — 18:00)
| Match #1 | Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov | URS | decision (12-7) | Pavel Hristov | BUL |
| Match #2 | Constantin Alexandru | ROU | decision (10-5) | Ferenc Seres | HUN |