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Boxing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games:

Men's Middleweight

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Events:

Host City: Melbourne, Australia
Venue(s): West Melbourne Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria
Date Started: November 26, 1956
Date Finished: December 1, 1956
Format: Single elimination tournament.

Gold: URS Gennady Shatkov
Silver: CHI Ramón Tapia
Bronze: FRA Gilbert Chapron
ARG Víctor Zalazar

Summary

The Soviet entrants in the higher weight divisions were all considered to be high class competitors and [Gennady Shatkov], the reigning European champion, was certainly no exception. A powerful and aggressive fighter, Shatkov had a relatively easy passage, which included a quarter-final walkover, through to the final at Melbourne. The surprise of the tournament was a crude but strong fighter from Chile. [Ramón Tapia] had little experience of fighting outside his native country and was sent to a tournament earlier in 1956 in Uruguay with the knowledge that only a tournament victory would be good enough to allow him a place of the Chilean national team. He duly won and was sent to Melbourne. Tapia knocked out his first two opponents then reached the final when [Gilbert Chapron] was not fit to contest his semi-final. Reality kicked in during the final and the Chilean was punished for his recklessness by being knocked out in the first round of his contest with Shatkov. This was the first time Tapia had suffered this fate.

Four years later Shatkov contested the light-heavyweight division. His dreams of a second gold medal were thwarted in his second match by a young man called [Cassius Clay].

View a Phase of this EventFinal StandingsFinal RoundSemi-FinalsQuarter-FinalsRound One

Final Standings

Rank Athlete Age Team NOC Medal
1 Gennady Shatkov 24 Soviet Union URS Gold
2 Ramón Tapia 24 Chile CHI Silver
3T Víctor Zalazar 23 Argentina ARG Bronze
3T Gilbert Chapron 23 France FRA Bronze
5T Roger Rouse 22 United States USA
5T Giulio Rinaldi 21 Italy ITA
5T Dieter Wemhöner 26 Germany GER
5T Július Torma 34 Czechoslovakia TCH
9T Jens Andersen 27 Denmark DEN
9T Ralph Hosack Canada CAN
9T Ron Redrup 21 Great Britain GBR
9T Stig Sjölin 27 Sweden SWE
9T Howard Richter 21 Australia AUS
9T Zbigniew Piórkowski 27 Poland POL