Featherweight (52-57 kilograms), Men

The featherweight division returned to the Olympic fold in 2020/2021, replacing bantamweight which was contested in Rio. Although in truth, since the difference in weight between the two divisions was only a single kilogramme due to the restructuring of the Olympic programme, this was less controversial to the national federations than it could have been.

The long-range favourite, 2016 bantamweight champion Robeisy Ramírez, defected to the USA in summer 2018 to pursue a professional career. Although this did not necessarily rule him of out of Tokyo, the enmity it earned from the Cuban government meant his Olympic career was ended.

Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov of Uzbekistan, as reigning world champion, was the top seed with Albert Batyrgaziyev, a Russian convert from kickboxing, seeded to meet him in the final but the Uzbek was eliminated in his first bout against Irishman Kurt Walker.

From the quarter-finals onwards, each bout was close and hotly contested with only the semi-final between American Duke Ragan and Samuel Takyi of Ghana being decided by anything but a 3-2 split decision by the judges. Ragan and Batyrgaziev faced off for the gold medal in the first Olympic final in which both boxers had professional experience. The Russian won the first two rounds on the majority of scorecards with his controlled aggression and although Ragan rallied in the later stages he failed to convince three of the five judges to score in his favour. Lázaro Álvarez of Cuba won his third successive bronze medal – all in different weight classes.