More rings from the Cuban cigar

The US have five boxers left, Cuba have 10. The Cubans got both their boxers through to the semi-finals on Tuesday. Lightweight Mario Kindelan looked all class in stopping Tigkran Ouzlian of Greece on the 15-point rule (24-9) in the fourth round. Gaidarbek Gaidarbekov outboxed Lacy to cap a dominant session for the Russians winning all four of their quarter-final bouts.

Lacy could not come to terms with the awkward Gaidarbekov, who amassed an 18-3 leed when the referee stopped the fight 1:49 into the third round on the 15-point rule.

In the fight that packed out the arena, Savon was leading Bennett 23-9 when the referee stopped the bout under the 15-point rule with three seconds left in the third round. Savon will fight Germany’s Sebastian Kober in the semi-finals on Thursday after Kober accounted for Canadian Mark Simmons.

Bennett was scheduled to face Savon in the world championship final last August but the Cuban defaulted in protest against a disputed decision that went against a teammate. Savon, with his enormous reach and dynamite right, had too much ring craft for the less experienced but much-touted American, who leaves the Olympics without a medal.

The Cuban built a 17-6 lead by the end of the second round and just when he appeared certain to clinch victory early in the third, Bennett caught him with two jolting right hooks. Yet he returned to his powerful left jab to go on and secure victory. The last American boxer to win an Olympic heavyweight title was Ray Mercer at Seoul in 1988.