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Japan's Ryota Murata slipped past Brazil's Esquiva Falcao in the middleweight gold medal bout in London, winning 14-13, with the score ultimately decided on a two-point holding warning against Falcao in the third round.
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The fight was extremely close, with both men doing good work. The first round pace was blistering and fought in a phone booth, and the 5-3 score for Murata there doesn't really reflect the effort put in by both fighters. Falcao wisely tried to find some range in the second round, and won that one, 5-4, narrowing the deficit to 9-8 after two rounds.
The third round warning wound up the difference, though, and it's arguable -- as we've seen many times with warnings in these Olympic bouts -- that it even needed to happen at all. Without that warning, Falcao would have won gold, 13-12. With it, he winds up with silver.
The gold medal is Japan's first in boxing since 1964, and just their second ever. Bronze medalists in the division are Great Britain's Anthony Ogogo and Uzbekistan's Abbos Atoev.
Men's Middleweight (165 lbs/75kg) Medals
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Ryota Murata (Japan) |
Japan 
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Esquiva Falcao |
Brazil 
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Anthony Ogogo |
Great Britain 
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Abbos Atoev |
Uzbekistan 
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