Mekhontcev collects Olympic Light Heavyweight gold medal
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- Published on Sunday, 12 August 2012 21:49
The penultimate contested pitted Russia’s Egor Mekhontcev against the savvy operator from Kazakhstan Adilbek Niyazymbetov.
Very evenly matched in the first, the two southpaws were simply getting a feel for each other, the tall 27-year-old European Champion from Russia tried to take the initiative with the jab but each time he went forward he was on the receiving end of some slick counter-punching, Niyazymbetov confidently taking the first 4:3.
In the second, 2009 AIBA World Champion Mekhontcev was getting through, landing some powerful shots, a huge right hand and a big left hook connected as he clawed his way back to parity going into the final round. It was a fitting finale as the two went for it, the Russian seemingly connecting with some cleaner shots, the jab and the left hook continuing to produce results.
In a frenetic final few moments, the two went toe-to-toe in search of the win, trading blows in the centre of the ring. The scores were level at 15:15 after three rounds and also after count-back so it went to the judges’ choice, who in the end favoured Egor Mekhontcev. The Russian claiming his country’s only boxing Olympic gold this year.
Esquiva Falcao Florentino of Brazil and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Gvozdyk were there to get their hands on the bronze medals they had earned by making it to the last four.
