ATHENS, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Bantam weight Guillermo Rigondeaux Ortiz crushed his Thai opponent 22-13 on points here Sunday afternoon to defend his Olympic title and also clinch the fourth gold for Cuba in the boxing tournament of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

    The powerful Cuban had a good start in the Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall as he led 6-3 on points in the first round. He further expanded the lead to almost unshakable 10 points at 19-9 after three rounds.

    This was the fourth gold for the Caribbean amateur boxing powerhouse in the tournament, as Cuban boxers had won the flyweight (51kg), heavyweight (91kg) and light flyweight (48kg) inthe previous finals.

    Cuba still has the chance to win two more boxing golds in the last day of the Athens Games, as its boxers are also in the finalsof the lightweight (60kg) and welterweight (69kg) categories. The boxing tournament of the Games offers medals in 11 categories, andonly for men's competition.

    The all-mighty Cuban boxers so far only suffered one defeat in the final stage as light welterweight player Yudel Johnson Cedeno was defeated 13-9 on points by Thai Manus Boonjumnong Saturday evening.

    However, Worapoj Petchkoom had failed to repeat the feat of hiscompatriot Sunday as he didn't see much chance to come back and subdue the Cuban defending champion. He managed to catch up to only one point behind at 8-9 in the middle of the second round, and that turned out to be the best he could do.

    But the Cuban should thank Petchkoom for ousting his longtime nemesis, Aghasi Mammadov of Azerbaijan, in the semifinals.

    Mammadov, who had beaten the Cuban once at the 2003 Bangkok World Championships, was shut out of the final by the unknown Thai27-19 on points.

    He had to be contented with a bronze medal, which was also shared by Bahodirjon Sooltonov of Uzbekistan who lost to the Cubanin another semifinal Friday. Enditem