Italian world champion Roberto Cammarelle beat China's Zhang Zhilei to win the Olympic boxing super heavyweight gold medal on Sunday.

Cammarelle obviously dominated the ring with a leading position throughout the match. He ended the bout at 14-4 with a heavy blow at Zhang's head 19 seconds into the fourth round.

Zhang initiated many attacks, but most punches were deflected, leaving his rival chances to fight back.

Cammarelle claimed the title in last year's World Championships and won the bronze medal at the Athens Games, while Zhang's best result was a bronze in the 2007 World Championships.

"I only come to win the gold medal, and now I've won two Olympic medals consecutively," Cammarelle said after the match.

He said he mainly used power in the first two rounds and used technics in the last two.

"I wouldn't say that it was easy, but in the end the bout turned out the way I expected. He (Zhang) is a dangerous giant but I badly wanted to win."

Cammarelle said he would stay in the amateur boxing scene.

Zhang, on his part, said he was a bit nervous on the home ring and failed to perform his best.

"I am close to the gold, so I feel disappointed. But I will not give up. I will be back," he said.

Zhang has just walked out of a series of injuries that even made him impossible to come onto the ring.

He was injured in the elbow in the 2005 World Championships, but did not pay enough attention to that. The injury developed as he continued boxing, and in the end he could hardly bear routine training.

Before his elbow fully recovered, he suffered from ligament tears that greatly hampered his footwork. The serious injuries almost brought Zhang's boxing life to an end.

Fortunately, with the help of Bob Chen, a noted rehabilitation medicine expert of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Zhang recovered after one year of therapy and training.

Despite his defeat to Cammarelle, Zhang was still China's first medalist in the super heavyweight (+91 kg) category.

Also on Sunday, Zhang's teammates Zou Shiming and Zhang Xiaoping won the golds in light flyweight and light heavyweight categories respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2008)