Middleweight (≤75 kilograms), Men

Without a clear favorite coming into Barcelona, two fighters established themselves as the class of the division, Cuba’s Ariel Hernández and the United States’ Chris Byrd. They won all their preliminary matches by big decisions and advanced to the final, Byrd defeating Canadian Chris Johnson, the 1991 Pan American silver medalist, in the semi-finals. The final was close, tied after two rounds at 4-4, but Hernández pulled ahead in the third round and won the gold medal, 12-7.

Although unheralded prior to Barcelona, Ariel Hernández became one of the top amateur boxers of the 1990s. He defended his Olympic gold medal in 1996 at Atlanta, won the World Championships in both 1993 and 1995, the Pan American Games title in 1995, and the Central American and Caribbean championship in 1993 and 1998. Byrd turned professional in 1993, and in 2000 won the WBO heavyweight title, upsetting Vitaly Klichko, and then retired after 2009 with a career pro record of 41-5-1.