4. Boris Lagutin – Soviet junior middleweight (1960-1968)

The Soviet Union was a perennial powerhouse in amateur boxing and one can make the case that Lagutin was the greatest amateur boxer his country ever produced. Lagutin, like Saitov, medaled in three games but unlike Saitov, who went gold-gold-bronze, he went bronze-gold-gold. His Olympic success mirrored his overall greatness, for he won 230 of his 241 fights and earned a basketful of amateur honors along the way (European championships in 1961 and 1963 and six USSR titles between 1959 and 1968).

Lagutin began his 1960 run in fine style by smashing Ghanaian Brimah al-Hassan in one round and Australian John Bukowski in two before losing a 3-2 nod to American Wilbert “Skeeter” McClure, who went on to win the gold by beating future pro 154-pound champion Carmelo Bossi 4-1.

Lagutin’s road to his first gold in Tokyo began with a shutout over West  Germany’s Paul Hogh and he followed that with a second-round disqualification win over Argentina’s Jose Chirino. He moved to the medal round courtesy of a walkover over Ghanaian Eddie Davies, and Lagutin took advantage of the extra rest by winning a 4-1 decision over Poland’s Jozef Grzesiak in the semis. Lagutin finished off the tournament by out-pointing Frenchman Joseph Gonzales by the same score.

Four years later in Mexico City, Lagutin was more powerful and dominant than ever. He steamrolled Spain’s Moises Fajardo and Egypt’s Sayed El-Nahas in two and Romania’s Ion Covaci in three before breezing to a 4-1 decision over West Germany’s Guenther Meier in the semis and a 5-0 verdict over Cuba’s Rolando Garbey in the final. No fighter could have asked for a better way to end his Olympic career and his body of work is the reason why he’s ranked so highly here.