Olympic Boxing 2016: Medal Winners, Scores and Wednesday's Results

Wednesday marked a day of great controversy and triumph for boxing at the 2016 Olympics, highlighted by Kazakhstan's Daniyar Yeleussinov's gold medal in the men's welterweight (152 lbs) final. 

Yeleussinov's win was the main event of boxing today, but there were three other matches, including American Claressa Shields knocking off Russia's Yaroslava Yakushina to reach the women's middleweight (165 lbs) semifinals. 

The other top story of the day was the International Boxing Association announcing that an unspecified number of referees and judges were dismissed following a review of several decisions that were substandard, per A.J. Perez of USA Today. 

In a sport where judging plays such an integral role in the outcome, anything that could call into question the result is a huge black eye that at least the AIBA took steps to address before all of the matches were decided. 

Here are the results from Wednesday's matches from Rio de Janeiro:

Weight Class	Matchup	Winner
Men's Flyweight Quarterfinal	Mikhail Aloyan (Russia) vs. Ceiber Ávila (Colombia)	Mikhail Aloyan
Men's Flyweight Quarterfinal	Hu Jianguan (China) vs. Yosvany Veitía (Cuba)	Hu Jianguan
Men's Flyweight Quarterfinal	Shakhobidin Zoirov (Uzbekistan) vs. Elvin Mamishzada (Azerbaijan)	Shakhobidin Zoirov
Men's Flyweight Quarterfinal	Yoel Finol (Venezuela) vs. Mohamed Flissi (Algeria)	Yoel Finol
Women's Middleweight Quarterfinal	Claressa Shields (United States) vs. Yaroslava Yakushina (Russia)	Claressa Shields
Women's Middleweight Quarterfinal	Li Qian (China) vs. Andreia Bandeira (Brazil)	Li Qian
Women's Middleweight Quarterfinal	Dariga Shakimova (Kazakhstan) vs. Khadija El-Mardi (Morocco)	Dariga Shakimova
Women's Middleweight Quarterfinal	Savannah Marshall (Great Britain) vs. Nouchka Fontijn (Netherlands)	Nouchka Fontijn
Women's Lightweight Semifinal	Yin Junhua (China) vs. Mira Potkonen (Finland)	Yin Junhua
Women's Lightweight Semifinal	Estelle Mossely (France) vs. Anastasia Belyakova (Russia)	Estelle Mossely
Men's Welterweight Final	Daniyar Yeleussinov (Kazakhstan) vs. Shakhram Giyasov (Uzbekistan)	Daniyar Yeleussinov

Men's Welterweight Final

Daniyar Yeleussinov def. Shakhram Giyasov 

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Yeleussinov earned his first Olympic gold medal and Kazakhstan's third of the Rio Games with a unanimous-decision win over Shakhram Giyasov in the men's welterweight final. All three judges scored the bout 29-28. 

The 25-year-old Yeleussinov has been building toward this moment for the last four years after losing in the quarterfinals during the 2012 Olympics. He previously won gold at the 2014 Asian Games and 2015 Asian Championships, as well as a silver medal at the 2015 World Championships. 

Per Greg Beacham of the Associated Press, Yeleussinov's win also adds to Kazakhstan's run of Olympic success:

There comes a point in every elite athlete's career when everything crystallizes and they take that next step in their evolution. 

Yeleussinov could have fallen apart after what happened in London four years ago, but he used that as a learning opportunity. Now that he's just entered his mid-20s, there's no reason he can't dominate this division for a long time to come. 

Shields Dominates En Route to Semifinals

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Shields earned a unanimous decision of her own over Yakushina, though she was not entirely pleased with her performance. 

“That was a C-minus performance,” said Shields, per John Niyo of the Detroit News. This was her first fight of the Olympics after earning a bye into the quarterfinals, so it's understandable if she didn't feel crisp. 

Maggie Hendricks of USA Today was not quite so harsh when analyzing Shields' effort:

Just 21 years old, Shields already made a name for herself in London four years ago when she took home a gold medal in this event. She won gold at the World Championships earlier this year, giving her the inside track to another triumph in Rio. 

Awaiting Shields in the semifinals will be Dariga Shakimova, who also earned a surprise unanimous-decision win over Khadija El-Mardi. El-Mardi earned a bye into the quarterfinals, but she was outpointed for three rounds against Shakimova to get sent home early. 

The lone stoppage from Wednesday's action came courtesy of France's Estelle Mossely against Russia's Anastasia Belyakova in the women's lightweight semifinal. 

Mossely hit Belyakova with a hook that left Belyakova with a broken left arm, per Connor Mannion of NBCOlympics.com. The referee was forced to stop the match, giving the win to Mossely and a berth in the gold-medal match against China's Yin Junhua on Friday.