Sanford off to semis, will be Canada’s first Olympic boxing medallist in 28 years

Wyatt Sanford will become Team Canada’s first Olympic medallist in boxing in 28 years. All that’s left to be determined is the colour of that medal.

Sanford won his quarterfinal bout in the men’s 63.5kg weight class on Thursday, defeating Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Abdullaev 4-1.

“I’m on top of the world,” exclaimed an ecstatic Sanford. “We’re finally after 28 years of a drought, we’re bringing a medal home to Canada. But I know Canada wants the gold and I want to give it to them. So two more wins and we can do it.

A win in his semifinal on Sunday would give Sanford the chance to fight for gold. A semifinal loss would mean Sanford would head home to Kennetcook, Nova Scotia with a bronze. This is his second Olympic appearance; he was eliminated in the first round in his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

In the quarterfinal, it was his opponent who took the early lead, winning three of the five judges in the first round. But Sanford soon figured Abdullaev out and exactly how to counter. Sanford won three of the judges in the second round and then four in the third round.

“We know he likes to throw in multiple shots. He’s not a big one or two puncher. He likes the combination. So the strategy was cutting off his jab…cutting off the attacks with my hook,” explained Sanford. “It took me a little bit of time in the first round to finally start placing the right hook, but once we were able to start doing it, it stopped him in his tracks. He wasn’t willing to throw as much as what he was early on in the fight and we were able to figure him out.”

Sanford planned to spend the rest of the day celebrating — “I’m sure it’s gonna kick in once I see my parents. I’ll be even more thrilled.” — and relaxing a bit before switching his focus fully to semifinal preparations. But the work will begin first thing in the morning with watching film on his next opponent and putting it into practice in the ring.

Canada has won 17 Olympic medals all-time in boxing but the last came at Atlanta 1996 when David Defiagbon took silver in the men’s heavyweight event.