Villanueva-Stepashkin final: Round by round

(The following is the round by round account of the final bout between Anthony Villanueva and Stanislav Stepashkin for the featherweight gold medal on Oct. 24, 1964 during the Tokyo Olympics from an AP file).

Round One. Villanueva connected with a long jab to the head of the Russian. The Russian countered with a right to the body. Villanueva’s forehead began to bleed. The two fighters exchanged right hooks to the head.

Villanueva connected with a left hook to the head, Stepashkin jabbed the Filipino’s bleeding wound as Villanueva backed away. Villanueva missed with a left straight and kept the Russian at a distance with a jabs.

Villanueva connected with a right to the head.

End of round one.

Round Two. The Russian moved in as Villenueva backed away. Stepashkin missed with a left. There was a furious exchange of blows. The Russian connected with a left. Villanueva connected with a hard left to the jaw. Stepashkin countered with a left to the head.

The Filipino dance around the wily Russian, jabbing.

Stepashkin hit with a hard right to the face.Villanueva’s nose began to bleed. The Filipino connected with a left but the Russian countered with the same punch.

The Russian cornered Villanueva against the ropes. Villanueva jabbed with fast rights.

The Russian was warned for punching low.

Villanueva connected with a hard right to the Russian’s head, followed by a smashing left to the jaw as round ended.

Round Three. The Russian opened with sharp left to the body. Villanueva countered with a left hook. The Filipino connected with two quick lefts followed by a right and left. Another left by Villanueva caught the Russian on the chin.

Villanueva’s wound kept bleeding.

There was a sharp exchange as the two fighters engaged in infighting. Villanueva connected with a right to the head. The Russian’s nose was bleeding profusely. They exchanged blows at close quarters.

The referee called the doctor to inspect Villanueva’s wound. The fight was permitted to go on. Villanueva connected with a hard left. The referee warned the Russian for a stooping low.

Both fighters were bloody.

The Russian connected with a left jab. Villanueva backed away, then came back to connect with a left.

The two fighters slugged it out on the ropes.

The two embraced after the bell.