28/Sep/2000
Boxing
CUBA, UKRAINE IN LIGHTWEIGHT FINAL

SYDNEY (Sept. 28, 2000) -- Mario Kindelan has outpointed Russia's Alexandr Maletin 27-15 on to reach the Olympic lightweight boxing final and keep Cuba on course to win a title it last held 20 years ago.

The victorious Kindelan (AP Photo)

Kindelan was a convincing winner, threatening to outclass the 1997 world champion under the 15-point "mercy" rule after leading 25-13 with a minute remaining in the fourth round. He will now fight Ukrainian Andriy Kotelnyk in the final.

Maletin and Mexico's Cristian Bejarano Benitez, who lost 22-14 to Kotelnyk, take bronze as losing semifinalists.

Cuba won the Olympic lightweight title in 1980 with Angel Herrera after the United States boycotted the Moscow Games. No other Cuban has ever won gold in the division.

Bejarano was the only Latin American, aside from the Cubans, fighting in the semifinals and the crowd booed when he lost after he put up a good fight against the Ukrainian.

The Mexican was just 7-6 down in the third round but that was the closest he got to the Ukrainian.

Terra Sports/Reuters