Historic first ever Olympic gold for British boxer

Nicola Adams punched her way into history today as she became the first woman boxer to be crowned an Olympic champion.

The noise was like thunder from the 10,000-strong crowd inside east London's ExCeL Olympic arena as the Leeds flyweight beat her arch-rival China's Cancan Ren 16-7 to win gold.

Supporters were already on their feet for a standing ovation as Adams, 29, was named the winner over Ren, a three-time world champion. The crowd did not seem to be in any doubt.

Women's boxing is making its debut at the Olympics at the London 2012 Games.

The crowd erupted with handclaps and chanting of "Nicola, Nicola" when she came out of the corner at the start of round two.

It grew louder when she knocked her rival down a few seconds later and reached an even greater pitch when the round ended.

Even though the crowd had just watched the fast-paced action live, there were further sighs and whoops as the action was replayed on screens during the break.

It barely stopped throughout the bout.

Athens 2004 boxing silver medallist Amir Khan said: "Nicola put in a great performance. It is a first gold medal for women's boxing and a first gold medal for Britain. She has a very bright future in front of her."

The winners' medals were presented by Ching Kuo Wu, the sport's president who has been at the forefront of the campaign to get women's boxing into the Olympics.