HIGHLIGHTS

• Kurt Walker pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament with a 4-1 win over Uzbekistan’s world champion Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov
• Two hours later, Russian light heavyweight Imam Khataev then stunned Kazakh world champ Bekzad Nurdauletov
• Walker wouldn’t have participated at the Olympics had it been held last year

The men’s featherweight and light heavyweight world champions have been knocked out of the Tokyo Olympics, blowing the race for gold medal wide open in both categories

Ireland’s Kurt Walker pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament with a 4-1 win over Uzbekistan’s world champion Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov.

Two hours later, Russian light heavyweight Imam Khataev then stunned Kazakh world champ Bekzad Nurdauletov with a 4-1 victory. The 26-year-old Khataev has nearly a decade of high-level amateur experience, but no victories to compare to this upset.

Walker controlled the first round and managed to hang on till the end to get a 29-28 decision on four of the five judges’ cards.

He wouldn’t have been at the Olympics had it been held last year, as was scheduled originally, as his daughter, Layla, was born three months prematurely in May 2020 and required months of hospital care before she emerged healthy.