Mr. Istvan Kovacs celebrated an emotional Olympic gold medal 30 years ago on this day

One of the boxing icons, the current President of the Hungarian Boxing Association, Mr. Istvan Kovacs earned his Olympic title 30 years ago exactly on this day.

The Hungarians competed first at the 1924 Olympic Games when one of their hopes joined to the Paris event after he was supported by a company.

Hungary attended altogether 23 editions of the boxing events of the Olympic Games until 2024, and their team missed only the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics which was boycotted by the Eastern bloc countries.

The Hungarians are in the Top10 of the overall ranking of the Olympic boxing medal table with 10 impressive titles and their last gold was achieved by Istvan “Koko” Kovacs. Hungary earned altogether 10 gold, two silver and eight bronze medals in the boxing history of the Olympic Games.

Koko claimed gold medals in the 1988 European Junior Boxing Championships, 1991 European Boxing Championships, 1991 World Boxing Championships and a bronze in the 1992 Olympic Games.

Kovacs returned to the world of boxing in fantastic shape at the Vejle 1996 European Boxing Championships which was the lone qualification event for the Atlanta Olympic Games. He stopped Lithuania’s Vitalijus Filipovas first and continued his winning path dominating four of his further fights against Ukraine’s Andriy Gonchar, France’s Rachid Bouaita, Bulgaria’s veteran Aleksandar Hristov and Russia’s ex-Tajik Raimkul Malakhbekov.

His gold medal at the Vejle 1996 European Boxing Championships guaranteed a quota place for the Atlanta Olympic Games where he was named among the favourites.

The Hungarian star opener his campaign against Turkey’s Soner Karaoz in the Round of 32 and he proved that is in different level as his opponent, securing a massive 15:3 points decision victory.

Tajikistan’s National Champion Khurshed Khasanov was silver medallist in the Tashkent 1995 Asian Boxing Championships achieving his independent nation’s first big success. Khasanov looked confident in the first round of the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games against a Nigerian talent, but Kovacs was too quick for him in the Round of 16.

Kovacs had to meet in the quarter-final of the bantamweight (54kg) with a Romanian boxer who had excellent triumphs in Atlanta, but he destroyed Crinu Raicu Olteanu with a superb 24:2 victory which guaranteed his way to the semi-finals once again after Barcelona.

The Hungarian had a hard job in the semi-finals of the Olympic Games when he faced with Thailand’s Vichairachanon Khadpo. His Thai opponent competed on his third Olympic Games and won several Asian events but Kovacs’ tactics worked well to win that crucial battle by 12:7 point decision.

Kovacs was highly confident in the Olympic final against Cuba’s experienced Arnaldo Mesa who joined to the national team still in the 1980s. He gained the control of the bantamweight (54kg) final immediately, and he kept it until the last gong, and the technician athlete celebrated an emotional success in Atlanta.

Following his Olympic success in Atlanta, he remained among the amateurs as his home city Budapest hosted the 1997 edition of the World Boxing Championships where he claimed his second world title.

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