The 22-year-old was simply out-thought by his Cuban opponent, who negated the height and reach advantage of Vijender by fighting from a safe distance to score an 8-5 victory.

"Once he [Correa] 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.

Vijender is the first Indian boxer to clinch an Olympic medal. His bronze is India's third medal from the Beijing Games, after Abhinav Bindra's gold in shooting and wrestler Sushil Kumar's bronze.