Tokyo 2020: Arlen López Wins Second Gold for Cuba in Boxing

Cuban Arlén López defeated Briton Benjamin Whittaker in the men’s light heavyweight boxing final on Wednesday and won another gold medal for Cuba

Cuba’s Arlen Lopez won his second Olympic Gold medal on Wednesday as he taught Britain’s Ben Whittaker a boxing lesson in the final of the men’s light-heavyweight in Tokyo.   

The 28-year-old athlete, who won middleweight Gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics, was surprisingly only a split-points winner, having been the aggressor and clearly better boxer throughout the three rounds.

Lopez fell to his knees and banged on the floor when he was named the victor, while Whittaker quickly left the ring with his hands over his face.

24-year-old Whittaker jigged his way into the ring at Kokugikan Arena, better known as the home of sumo, Japan’s national sport.

But the more experienced Lopez had the Briton dancing to his tune from the first round, stalking Whittaker around the ring.

Lopez beckoned his opponent onto him, feeling that Whittaker was being too defensive, and a member of the British squad in the mostly empty arena shouted at his team-mate to “show no respect”.

Lopez, a former world champion in middleweight, led through two rounds of the scheduled three on the judges’ scorecards and the only surprise was that he was not awarded the bout on unanimous points.