Boxing has a rich Olympic history and the XXIX Olympiad is set to add further colour and stories of success when the boxing competition of the Beijing Olympic Games starts on August 9.
Olympic boxing has featured in 23 of the Olympiads in the modern era with more than 5,000 athletes having tasted the Olympic experience.
Legends such as Stevenson, Papp will live with us forever however, in Beijing, we wait for new heroes to celebrate.
Olympic Boxing History
2004 - The number of weight divisions return to 11 at the Athens (GRE) Games as Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz wins gold in the 54kg class to bring up 50 Olympic boxing medals for Cuba of which 30 were gold.
2000 - Cuba's Felix Savon follows in the footsteps of Teofilo Stevenson by making it at hat-trick of Olympic titles medal at the Sydney Games (AUS).
1996 - A bronze medal to Rhoshii Wells in the 75kg division at the Atlanta (USA) Games sees the host nation claim its 100th Olympic boxing medal.
1992 - Electronic scoring is introduced at the Barcelona (ESP) Games.
1988 -Silver to Nouramgomed Chanavazov in the 81kg divison at the Seoul (KOR) Olympics brings up 50 Olympic boxing medals for Russia (RUS/URS).
1984 - The compulsory wearing of head guards is introduced at the Los Angeles (USA) Games while USA becomes the first country to claim nine boxing gold medals in one Olympics as 12 weight divisions are contested for the first time.
1980 - Cuban great Teofilo Stevenson claims his third Olympic heavyweight title at the Moscow Games (RUS).
1976 - USA claim five gold medals for the third time in its history at the Montreal (CAN) Games.
1972 - A total of 45 boxers compete in the featherweight division as Cuba tops the medal tally for the first time with three gold, a silver and a bronze in Munich (GER).
1968 - Cuba claims its first medals with two silvers at the Mexico City Games as the number of weight divisions increase to 11.
1960 - Cuba takes part in the Olympic Games for the first time in Rome (ITA). The home nation tops the medal tally with three gold, three silvers and a bronze. Cassius Clay wins gold in the 81kg class.
1956 - USSR claims three gold medals in only its second Olympic Games in Melbourne (AUS). Bronze medals are awarded to both third place finishers. Laszlo Papp (HUN) becomes the first Olympic boxing three-time champion
1952 - Losers of the semifinals are both ranked in third place and are awarded diplomas only at the Helsinki (FIN) Olympics while USA claimed five gold medals. The number of weight divisions increases to 10.
1936 - Daily weigh-ins introduced for the first time at the Berlin (GER) Games.
1928 - A single-elimination formula is introduced at the Amsterdam (NED) Games with only semifinal losers having supplementary bouts to determine third and fourth places. A limit of eight weight classes is set with bouts consisting of three rounds of three minutes each.
1924 - A limit to one boxer per country, per weight category was introduced for the first time for the Paris (FRA) Olympics with bouts consisting of three rounds (two rounds of three minutes, one of four). Harry Mallin (GBR) becomes the first double Olympic boxing champion by winning gold in the 75kg class.
1920 - Eight weight categories contested in Antwerp (BEL).
1912 - No Olympic boxing competition due to Swedish law.
1908 - Another late decision to include boxing saw the "American incident" repeat itself four years later with local boxers dominating the 4th Olympics in London (GBR). Great Britain won all five weight classes, four silver and five bronze medals. The Australian middleweight boxer Ralf Baker picked up a silver.
1904 - Boxing makes its debut on the Olympic programme at the 3rd Olympic Games in St Louis (USA). Forty-four Americans are the only participants due to the lateness of confirming boxing in the Olympic programme. Seven weight classes were disputed with seven gold, seven silver and two bronze medals awarded.
List of Olympic champions |