Yafai's tactical approach brings gold home
Great Britain's Galal Yafai fought his way into the record books on Saturday, claiming a gold medal in the men's flyweight division — Britain's first gold in the men's flyweight division since the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
Yafai put on a brilliant display in the gold-medal match, where he faced Philippines' Carlo Paalam. Yafai dominated from start to finish, even knocking Paalam to the canvas in Round 1. Though Paalam put forth a solid last-ditch effort in Round 3, it proved to be too little, too late.
Paalam went home with a silver medal, the Philippines' first-ever medal in the men's flyweight division.
Krasteva dominates gold-medal match in unanimous decision
Bulgaria's Stoyka Zhelyazkova Krasteva left zero doubts in the women's flyweight division, as she put on a dominant display on Saturday to cap off her Tokyo Olympic experience with a gold medal.
Krasteva faced Turkey's Buse Naz Cakiroglu, and while the 25-year-old Cakiroglu had a great run in her Olympic debut, she fell handedly to the Bulgarian and ultimately claimed silver.
Krasteva, the fifth-place finisher in the 2012 London Olympics, won via unanimous decision, her second consecutive 5-0 victory.
Sousa wins with thundering knockout blow
Brazil's Hebert Sousa won his first gold medal in miraculous fashion.
The 23-year-old middleweight boxer, making his Olympic debut, was blown out by Ukraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak in the fight's first two rounds. With only round remaining, Sousa had no other option but to go for the knockout.
And he delivered.
Sousa landed a left hook with roughly 1:30 left in the match, which sent Khyzhniak to the floor. The knockout awarded Sousa a gold medal, while Khyzhniak was awarded a silver medal.
Surmeneli recovers from slow start to claim gold
Turkey's Busenaz Surmeneli certainly could've gotten off to a better start on Saturday, but the ending was everything she could've hoped for.
Surmeneli lost the first round to China's Gu Hong, a heavy favorite in the match, but quickly recovered. The Turk won the second and third rounds, and thanks to a warning and subsequent point deduction for Hong, the final tally was 3-0 in favor of Surmeneli.
In the end, Surmeneli left with a gold medal, while Hong went home with a silver.
