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Light heavyweight preview: Lopez faces stiff competition from Team GB star

Ben Whittaker qualifies for Olympics in March 2021

Planet Sport takes a look at the top contenders for medals at light heavyweight ahead of Tokyo 2020.

Top seed: Bekzad Nurdauletov

The Kazakhstan star enters the tournament as the best light heavyweight fighter in the world, and rightly so.

His intelligence inside the ring makes him a strong contender to win gold, following on from his 2019 World Championships triumph.

He has defeated Dilshodbek Ruzmetov on two occasions as well as 2016 Olympic champion Julio Cesar La Cruz, who is fighting at heavyweight this summer and is fancied by many to add another gold to his tally.

Nurdauletov, who has a southpaw stance, can deal against high level opponents but must avoid getting overconfident and remain disciplined.

Most talked about: Ben Whittaker

Ben Whittaker could be one of the standout fighters for Team GB at this summer's Olympics.

He has a tendency to fight on the ropes but his movement around the ring and volume of punches is exceptional.
Having won medals at the World Championships and European Games in 2019, we expect him to follow in the footsteps of Mark Lewis-Francis in 2004 and bring home a medal to Darlaston, England.

Two to watch: Arlen Lopez and Dilshodbek Ruzmetov

Lopez likes to fight on the inside and his fighting style earned him gold at middleweight in the 2016 Olympics. He became the first middleweight from Cuba to win top honours at 75kg since Jorge Gutierrez in 2000.

He also won gold medals at the 2015 World Championships, the 2015 and 2019 Pan American Games.

Lopez has won his last eight bouts and currently possesses a record of 124-17. He has a strong chance of Olympic glory once again.

Ruzmetov is an awkward southpaw opponent who looks more suited to the professional circuit rather than at amateur level.
Despite 10 defeats in 35 fights, the 22-year-old representing Uzbekistan has never been stopped inside three rounds.
He enters the 2020 Olympics having won gold at the 2021 Asian Championships in Dubai and in boxing, momentum can be everything.

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