There was no change to the Olympic boxing program in 1976, with the boxers contesting 11 classes, as they had done in 1968 and 1972. The tournament was held at the Arena Maurice Richard, an ice hockey arena that was re-formatted for Olympic boxing and wrestling. It had been built in 1962 and was named in honor of Maurice Richard, an NHL star of the 1950s for the Montreal Canadiens.

The boxing tournament was severely affected by the African boycott in 1976, as many top African boxers would have challenged for medals, and many early round bouts were not contested due to withdrawals. In their absence the tournament was dominated by the United States, as they won five gold medals, trailed by Cuba, which won three classes. World amateur boxing championships had been instituted in 1974, so amateur boxers now had more international experience and it was somewhat easier to choose favorites.

There were eleven boxing events at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The competition was held from 18 to 31 July with the participation of 266 fighters from 54 countries.

In the first round, only 10 of 16 matches were contested, as there was one bye, and five fighters were withdrawn by their countries because of the African boycott. The favorite was the Cuban, [Jorge Hernández], who had won the 1974 World Championships and the 1975 Pan American Games. He made it to the final, although surviving a close 3-2 decision in the semis over Korea's [Park Chan-Hui]. In the final he faced a North Korean, [Li Byong-Uk], and won a majority decision. Li's silver was the second consecutive silver medal in this class by a North Korean, after [Kim U-Gil] had lost in the 1972 final. Li would return in 1980 to win a bronze medal in the class. At Montreal he had made it to the final by a TKO over Thailand's [Payao Poontarat], the first Thai boxer to win an Olympic medal. Poontarat turned professional, something not available to the two finalists from Communist nations, and in 1983 became WBC super-flyweight world champion. He held the title for only a few months and retired after losing his final three fights in 1984-85.

The men's light flyweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class was the lightest contested, and allowed boxers of up to 48 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 19 to 31 July 1976. 27 boxers from 27 nations competed

Cuba was thought to have the two best boxers in this class, as Douglas Rodríguez had won the 1974 World Championships, but he was bested in the Cuban trials by [Ramón Duvalon], who had won the 1975 Pan American Games title. Duvalon had an easy time in getting to the finals, winning three matches without being tested, after a walkover in the second round. That was not unusual, as 7 of 16 bouts in round two were not contested after withdrawals due to the African boycott. In the final, Duvalon met unheralded American [Leo Randolph], an 18-year-old high school student with no international experience, although he had won the 1975 Golden Gloves and the 1976 AAU Championship. Surprisingly Randolph won a close decision, 3-2, to win the gold medal. Randolph won the first of five gold medals in boxing for the United States at the Montreal Olympics. He turned professional after the Games, and in 1980 won the WBA super-bantamweight title. But in his first title defense, he lost by TKO to Sergio Víctor Palma and then retired from boxing, ending a short career with 17 wins and 2 losses.

The men's flyweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 51 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 18 to 31 July 1976. 26 boxers from 26 nations competed

An unusual division, there was no clear favorite as only one medalist from the 1974 World Championships was entered, that being [Aldo Cosentino] of France, but he was knocked out in his first match. In the second round, four fighters went through by walkover because of withdrawals by African fighters, and two bouts did not exist because both fighters withdrew due to the boycott. The final came down to American [Charlie Mooney] against North Korea's [Gu Yong-Jo], with Gu winning a unanimous decision to earn North Korea its first Olympic boxing gold medal. A career military man, Mooney had been silver medalist at the 1975 Pan American Games and a three-time All-Army Champion. He never turned professional and remained in the Army for 22 years until his retirement, and then became a boxing coach.

The men's bantamweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 54 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 18 to 31 July 1976. 27 boxers from 27 nations competed

After the requisite seven withdrawals in round two by African fighters, the final came down to two young, little-known boxers – Cuba's [Ángel Herrera] and Poland's [Richard Nowakowski]. Nowadowski had had an easy time in the early rounds, winning two unanimous decisions, with one win by knockout, and one by TKO. Herrera had only one close bout, defeating American [Davey Armstrong] by a 3-2 decision in the quarter-finals. Armstrong was the American choice for this class after 1974 World Champion [Howard Davis, Jr.] moved up to the lightweights. The final was not close, as Herrera dominated and knocked out Nowakowski in the second round. Herrera and Nowakowski, however, would soon become among the best amateur boxers over the next decade.

Herrera returned to the Olympics in 1980 and won another gold medal, this time as a lightweight. He also won World titles in 1978 (featherweight) and 1982 (lightweight), finishing his international career with a silver medal at the 1983 Pan American Games. Nowakowski won the 1977 and 1981 European titles in this class, and added a bronze medal at the 1982 World Championships.

The men's featherweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 57 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 18 to 31 July 1976. 26 boxers from 26 nations competed

[Howard Davis, Jr.] had won the 1974 World Championships as a featherweight and, moving up in class, was considered a favorite for the 1976 Olympic lightweight gold medal. But two days before the Olympics started, his mother died of a heart attack. Davis elected to fight on, and honor his mother's memory by winning a gold medal. He did so, and was virtually unchallenged, winning his first two bouts when they were stopped early, and taking the semi-final and final by unanimous decisions. In the final he defeated Romania's [Simion Cutov], who had won a silver medal as a light-welter at the 1974 World Championships. For his efforts, Davis was awarded the Val Barker Trophy as the top boxer of the Olympics. He turned professional and had a long career, only retiring in 1996, with a career record of 36 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw. Four of his losses came in his four world title fights, and he never managed to win a professional belt. This class was decimated by the African boycott. Eleven African boxers were forced to withdraw from round two, with two matches voided as both boxers withdrew.

The men's lightweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 60 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 18 to 31 July 1976. 23 boxers from 23 nations competed

The 1974 World Champion was Uganda's Ayub Kalule but he turned professional early in 1976, and the African boycott would have prevented him from fighting. The 1972 gold medalist had been [Sugar Ray Seales], and a Sugar Ray was back for the United States, but this time in the form of [Sugar Ray Leonard], a young man from suburban Washington, who was just out of high school. With hands as quick as a snake's bite, Leonard advanced to the final to face Cuba's [Andres Aldama], who was also relatively inexperienced. The final was not close as Leonard won by unanimous decision. Aldama would return to the Olympics in 1980, after winning Pan American gold in 1979, and win a gold medal, defeating [John Mugabi] in the welterweight final, a future professional champion.

Sugar Ray Leonard moved on to the professional ranks, although he had stated all during the Olympics that he would not do so until he had gone to college. He would have one of the great, and longest, professional careers of any Olympic boxer. He fought through 1991, although he returned for one bout in 1997. He won his first world title in 1979, the NABF welterweight crown, and he would eventually win world titles in five different weight classes. One of those came in 1981 when he defeated Ayub Kalule, the man who was not there at Montreal, for the WBA and The Ring light-middleweight crowns. Leonard became wealthy, winning over $100 million in purses, and was named the Boxer of the Decade for the 1980s. His career professional record was 36 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw.

The men's light welterweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 63.5 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 18 to 31 July 1976. 31 boxers from 31 nations competed

At the 1974 World Championships, Cuba's [Emilio Correa] won the title by defeating America's [Clint Jackson] in the final. The next year, Jackson defeated Correa in a semi-final and won the 1975 Pan American Games gold medal. Both were back in this class in Montreal and were considered the favorites. But they each went out to Venezuela's [Pedro Jose Gamarro], a bronze medalist at the 1975 Pan American Games, who defeated Correa by a third-round TKO in round three, and Jackson by a narrow 3-2 decision in the quarter-finals. Gamarro advanced to the final where he faced East Germany's [Jochen Bachfeld]. Bachfeld had fought at the 1972 Olympics, losing early, but his experience was telling in Montreal as he eked out a 3-2 decision to win the gold medal. Gamarro never turned professional and never returned to the Olympics, but he did win another Pan American Games bronze medal in 1983, this time as a middleweight.

The men's welterweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 67 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 18 to 31 July 1976. 31 boxers from 31 nations competed

Among the biggest favorites in Montreal 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.

The men's light middleweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 71 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 22 to 31 July 1976. 23 boxers from 23 nations competed.

The American [Michael Spinks] had a short course to get to the final of this class. He had a bye in the first round, had a walkover in round two due to a withdrawal caused by the African boycott, won a unanimous decision in the quarter-finals over Poland's [Ryszard Pasiewicz], and was then to meet Romania's [Alec Năstac], silver medalist at the 1974 World Championships, in the semis. But Năstac had sustained a cut eye in his quarter, and was deemed unfit to fight, so Spinks moved on to the final against the Soviet [Rufat Riskiyev], the 1974 World Champion, having had only one fight. Riskiyev had defeated Spinks at a match in Tashkent early in 1976, but in the final, Spinks landed a telling body blow in round three, and the referee had to stop the contest, giving Spinks the gold medal.

Spinks, whose brother, [Leon], won the light-heavyweight gold medal in Montreal, turned professional. In 1981 he won the WBA light-heavyweight world title by defeating Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. Michael Spinks would hold a version of the light-heavyweight title through 1985 when he moved up to the heavies and defeated Larry Holmes to win the IBF heavyweight crown, the first light-heavyweight champion to move on to become heavyweight world champ. Spinks fought through 1988, winning his first 31 fights, but he retired after losing a heavyweight title fight that year to Mike Tyson.

The men's middleweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 75 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 19 to 31 July 1976. 19 boxers from 19 nations competed.

Michael Spinks, just 20 years of age, defeated Rufat Riskiyev, who was at least 7 years older, in the final. Spinks turned pro after the Games and later became world champion. He is considered a legend by sports writers and critics.

The 1974 World Champion in this class was the Yugoslav [Mate Parlov], who had won the Olympic gold medal in 1972. But he turned professional in 1975 and was not in Montreal. A bronze medalist from the 1974 Worlds was there, however, one [Leon Spinks] of the United States. An ungainly fighter with powerful hands, but seemingly little skill, Spinks made it to the final and entered the ring shortly after his brother, [Michael], had won a gold medal in the middleweight final. In the final Leon met Cuba's [Sixto Soria], who had not fought the distance in any bout in Montreal, winning his quarter-final and semi-final in the first rounds. But the final was no contest, as Spinks battered Soria all around the ring for three rounds, with the referee mercifully stopping the bout at 1:09 of the third. Soria would come back in 1978 to win the World Championship.

Leon Spinks turned professional after the 1976 Olympics, and after only seven fights, faced [Muhammad Ali] for the world heavyweight title, in what was considered to be a mismatch. Inexplicably, Spinks won a 15-round decision to become world champion, but in a re-match seven months later, Ali won easily, and Spinks had seen the best of his career. He fought through 1995, a punching bag near the end, ending with a professional record of 26 wins, 17 losses, and 3 draws. He later had a brief career as a pro wrestler, and then, his financial life in ruins, spent time on the streets as a homeless person. His son, Cory Spinks, also became a professional world champion.

The men's light heavyweight event was part of the boxing programme at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The weight class allowed boxers of up to 81 kilograms to compete. The competition was held from 19 to 31 July 1976. 18 boxers from 18 nations competed