Light-Middleweight (≤71 kilograms), Men

Among the biggest favorites in Montréal was Cuba’s Rolando Garbey in this class. Garbey was fighting in his third Olympics, having won a silver medal in 1968, and losing in the quarters in 1972. By the time of the 1976 Olympics he was a three-time Pan American Games champion, and had won the 1974 World Championship. But in a huge upset, he lost in the semi-finals to the unknown Bosnian Yugoslav Tadija Kačar. In the final Kačar met Poland’s Jerzy Rybicki, who was also not well known, with Rybicki winning a unanimous decision for the gold medal.

Rybicki would go on to add bronze medals at the 1978 World Championships (light-middleweight) and the 1980 Olympics (middleweight). Kačar moved up to light-heavyweight and won silver at the 1978 World Championships. His brother, Slobodan Kačar, won gold at the 1980 Olympics as a light-heavy and turned professional, winning the IBF light-heavyweight championship in 1985.