Olympic boxing: Light heavyweight gold for Russia's Mekhontsev

London - Russia’s Yegor Mekhontsev won his country’s first boxing gold medal of the Olympics beating Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Niyazymbetov on a tie-break in the final here at the ExCel Arena Sunday.

The fight finished 15-15, with Mekhontsev given the win on countback.

It was the second time in two fights that Niyazymbetov had seen his bout go to a tie-break after he reached the final on countback with a controversial 13-13 result against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in the semi-finals.

In the first round, both Mekhontsev and Niyazymbetov landed good blows to the head with jabs, before the Kazakh fighter sent the Russian into the ropes with a hook to the side of the head.

The judges scored the first round 4-3 in Niyazymbetov’s favour.

Mekhontsev had the better of the second round, although the action remained fairly even as the Russian won 5-4.

Brazil’s Yamaguchi Falcao Florentino and Ukraine’s Gvozdyk took bronze after losing their semi-final bouts Friday.

Mekhontsev blitzed Falcao Florentino 23-11, while Niyazymbetov beat Gvozdyk on a countback tie-break after the fight ended 13-13.