Beijing: Vijender Kumar has lost to Cuba's Emilio Correa Bayeaux in the middleweight (75kg) semi-final at the Worker's Gymnasium on Friday.
Emilio won the bout 8:5 to book his place in the final.
The loss means Vijender will get a bronze medal as according to the rules, both losing semifinalists are given a bronze each.
The Cuban negated Vijender's height and reach advantages by playing from a distance. He easily dodged the punches that Vijender threw at him and took a 2:0 lead in the first round.
In the second round Vijender came out firing on all cylinder and managed to push the Cuban on the back foot. Vijender won the second round 3:2 but Emilio was determined not to let go of the lead.
Though just one point separated the two boxers after the second round with Emilio leading 4:2 but in the third round he extended his lead by three more points as Vijender failed to land any punch.
In the last round the Cuban boxer tried to play safe after scoring a point.
However he was warned by the referee for negative tactics and Vijender got two more points. But in the final analysis it proved to be too little too late.
Emilio, son of 1972 Munich Games gold medallist Emilio Correa Vaillant, was precise with his blows. He did not resort to wild arm swinging or uppercuts but relied mostly on straight punches, which paid him rich dividends.
"Once he went 3-0 ahead, a comeback was always difficult. I tried my best and reduced the gap in the second round but could not really pull it off," a dejected Vijender said after the bout.
"I'm very upset and want to say sorry to all for I could not win the bout. But I promise to come back in 2012 Olympics and beat this guy and win gold," Vijender said.
"I had prepared well for his right punches but his left proved equally strong and I often had no answer to that," Vijender said of his opponent, whose tactical superiority was evident as he hit the Indian before backpedaling fast.
The Haryana lad was still happy to have won India's first boxing medal and said, "I believe, boxing will see better days in India. We made good progress in the sport and it showed here."
Coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu was not too unhappy either. "I'm happy that at least we finished with an Olympic medal, it was a breakthrough for us. For the first time, three Indian boxers reached the quarter-finals. We have shown what we are capable of and the whole world is now watching us," Sandhu added.
Vijender's medal will add to a gold and a bronze that Indian athletes have already won in shooting and wrestling respectively.
Abhinav Bindra won the 10m air rifle event for Indian first-ever Olympic gold and then wrestler Sushil Kumar won his 66kg freestyle category repechage and claimed a bronze medal.
(With inputs from PTI)
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