ATHENS, Aug. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Cuban flyweight Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano outclassed his French opponent on points 38-23 here Saturday evening to clinch the first gold medal in the boxing tournament of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

    And this was just the beginning of a widely-expected gold haul for the Caribbean amateur boxing powerhouse, which had 7 boxers in the finals of the 11-category Olympic boxing tournament in Athens.

    After a quite close battle in the first round which ended 9-8 in favor of the more aggressive Cuban, Gamboa Toledano controlled the following rounds with more powerful and effective attacks, leading all the way to the end and winning by a 15-point margin.

    The results for the last three rounds were 12-6, 9-5 and 8-4 respectively.

    The French, Jerome Thomas, was a bronze medal winner at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when Thailand won the gold of the flyweight (51kg) category. He has reached at least the quarterfinals of every major international event he has entered since 1998.

    His loss Saturday denied France a chance to win its third Olympic boxing gold medal after taking one each at the 1936 and 2000 Games.

    Rustamhodza Rahimov of Germany and Fuad Aslanov of Azerbaijan, who lost to the Cuban and the French respectively in Friday's semifinals, won the bronze medals.

    The Athens Olympics boxing tournament, which started in the Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall of Athens on Aug. 14, will have all its 11 gold medals decided Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. Enditem