E-Paper
British boxer Amir Khan claims medal
Khan won an Olympic boxing bronze medal after stopping South Korea's Baik Jong Sub to reach the lightweight semifinals.
Britain's sensational 17-year-old Amir Khan has won at least an Olympic boxing bronze medal after stopping South Korea's Baik Jong Sub in just 1min 37sec to reach the lightweight (60kg) semi-finals.
He caught Baik with a flurry of punches to win two standing counts of eight and was all over the Korean when the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
He fights Kazakhstan's Serik Yeleuov on Friday for a place in Sunday's final after the 23-year-old out pointed Italy's Domenico Valentino 29-23.
His opponent for a gold medal should be Mario Cesar Kindelan Mesa, the 33-year-old Cuban defending champion, who fights Rovshan Huseynov of Azerbaijan later today in his quarter-final.
Kindelan Mesa, a three-time world champion, fights either Murat Krachev of Russia or Uganda's Sam Rukundo in the other semi-final.
Khan, a cousin of England cricket international fast bowler Sajid Mahmood, lost to Kindelan Mesa in the Acropolis Cup in this same Peristeri Hall in May.
Khan recently won the world junior championships in South Korea and the European championships but is not old enough to compete in senior events in Britain.
The son of a Pakistan-born scrap metal dealer in Bolton, northern England, he is trying to better his hero Muhammad Ali's achievement who won Olympic light heavyweight gold in Rome in 1960 as an 18-year-old.
