The 22-year-old from London became the first Briton to win gold in the middleweight division since Chris Finnegan in Mexico in 1968. He won 16-14 on points, despite some dismal refereeing and some extremely dodgy tactics – including biting – by his Cuban opponent Emilio Correa Bayeaux.

Barring a miraculous performance from Dan Robinson, Britain's sole entrant in today's men's marathon, DeGale will be feted as Britain's final medallist of these Games, and his gold ensured that Britain finished fourth in the medal table. Russia has moved too far ahead and Germany cannot catch up, as they have no prospects in today's events.

DeGale looked composed and ready for the bout, despite the fact that he had not been not fancied to make the final. A superbly-controlled performance in the semi-final against Ireland's Darren Sutherland had proved that DeGale was more than good enough to compete for gold, and so it proved.

The Chinese fans at least showed they are as human as the rest of us, ignoring government instructions on "being sporting" and roundly booing DeGale throughout, no doubt because Britain had just become their favourite bad guys following controversy in the taekwondo arena.

Correa, who was trying to emulate his father Emilio snr and win Olympic gold, was tough and rough from the outset and completely lost his head after DeGale started magnificently, picking off the inrushing Cuban with clever counter punches to move 4-1 ahead late in the first.

The Cuban should never have finished that first round, however. Frustrated at being outboxed, Correa clearly bit DeGale on the chest and the appallingly poor referee, Jae Bong Kim of South Korea, saw the offence and deducted a penalty, meaning that two points were awarded to DeGale.

The correct decision should have been instant disqualification – as happened when Tajikistan's Dzhakhon Kurbanov was thrown out for biting Kazakhstan's Yerkebulan Shynaliyev on the shoulder in the third round of their quarter-final light heavyweight bout.

DeGale shrugged off the incident, and maintained his boxing as Correa, who was clearly troubled by the southpaw stance of the Briton, tried to manhandle him throughout the second round and did make some inroads into DeGale's defence. But some lovely long straight lefts and a few short right hands allowed DeGale to go 10-4 ahead at the end of round two.

The Cuban's desperation showed in the third as he threw everything into attack, and this time it was DeGale who resorted to illegality to keep out the Cuban, eventually being penalised two points for holding.

DeGale's earlier boxing skills seemed to desert him as he made basic defensive errors and was twice caught with his chin hanging out. The Cuban took the round 6-2 to close the gap to just two points.

Early in the final round, both fighters were warned for wrestling each other to the ground. DeGale was lucky to be awarded a point for an incorrect punch before Correa mounted a last offensive which the British boxer resisted, sailing close to the wind of another penalty deduction before finally prevailing by 16-14.

Bold and brash, DeGale was not slow in making comparisons with legends: "All the boxing greats have won it – Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard – and now that's me, I have won Olympic gold and made history, and it feels unbelievable."

The gold medallist confirmed Correa's idiocy and the Cuban may yet face further investigation as a result of the referee and DeGale's testimony on the biting incident.

"He bit me," insisted DeGale. "I was flowing nicely and boxing southpaw and I got into a 4-1 lead, then he got me in a little hold and bit my chest. I could feel those long teeth through his gumshield."

DeGale is already a target for professional promoters, but said he could be persuaded to stay an amateur. "It's hard to say no to a million pounds, but if they come with something sensible, I could be a superstar in amateur boxing. Just imagine winning another gold medal in 2012 in my home city."