(Photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)
The bronze medals went to Georgy Balakshin of Russia and Italian Vincenzo Picardi, seen in the photo above.
Somjit, 33, earned Thailand's second gold medal in the Olympics. He has been waiting for this day since 12 years and finally realized his dream. This is his last boxing contest, after which he would continue his boxing career as a coach.
Somjit fought really well, and by the end of the 2nd round he was leading 6-0. One of his punches connected so solidly with Laffita Hernandez's face, that Channel NBT ran the punch replay repeatedly for 3 or 4 times after the match was over. Earlier, when the match was about to begin, I was just watching the 6 pm Thai National Anthem being played by NBT, and during the medal ceremony I listened to the Thai Anthem a second time live from Beijing.
(Photo credit: AP)
This was his 5th match in the Olympics and he displayed his superiority in every match, winning by a clear margin. He was older than every opponent he faced and won a combined 39 points and conceded only 7 points.
Somjit's Road To Success in Olympics:
- Defeated Eddie Valenzuela of Guatemala 6-1
- Defeated Samir Mammadov of Azerbaijan 10-2
- Defeated Anvar Yunusov of Tajikistan 8-1
- Defeated Vincenzo Picardi of Italy 7-1
- Defeated Andris Laffita Hernandez of Cuba 8-2
Somjit held the portrait of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej during the announcement of the winning boxer.
(Photo credit: AP)
During the Olympic medal ceremony, he jumped onto the podium in style.
(Photo credit: AP)
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