The 22-year-old was simply out-thought by his Cuban rival who negated the height and reach advantage of Vijender by fighting from a long range to score an 8-5 win.

But even in defeat, Vijender has made history, becoming the only Indian boxer to clinch an Olympic medal.

Vijender, a Doha Asiad bronze medallist, struggled to connect his punches and was trailing from the very start.

In fact he failed to score a single point in the opening round, which ended 2-0 in the Cuban's favour.

Forced to play the catch-up game, Vijender managed a slight recovery in the second round as he reduced the deficit to just one point ending the second round 3-4 behind.

Bayeaux stuck to his strategy of back-paddling after landing punches, most of which were straight and more importantly precise.

The Cuban's lightening fast reflexes thwarted Vijender's attacks and the Indian once again failed to score in the third round.

The decider saw a desperate Vijender on the offensive but the Cuban survived the brief assault, although earning a two-point penalty for committing a foul, leaving the scoreline 8-5.

"I'm very upset and want to say sorry to all for I could not win the bout. But I promise to come back in 2012 Olympics and beat this guy and win gold," Vijender added.

"I had prepared well for his right punches but his left proved equally strong and I often had no answer to that," Vijender said of his opponent, whose tactical superiority was evident as he hit the Indian before back-pedalling fast.

Vijender could not score any point in the first and third rounds and even in the final phase, he got two penalty points after the Cuban had pushed him.

The Haryana lad was still happy to have won India's first boxing medal and said, "I believe, boxing will see better days in India. We made good progress in the sport and it showed here."