Japan's Murata wins men's middleweight gold

Ryota Murata won Japan's first Olympic boxing gold for 48 years when he claimed the middleweight (75kg) title on Saturday with a 14-13 win over Brazil's Esquiva Falcao.Having lost in the semi-finals, Uzbekistan's Abbos Atoev and Britain's Anthony Ogogo won bronze medals.Murata claimed Japan's first boxing gold since Takao Sakurai won bantamweight gold on home soil at the at the 1964 Tokyo Games.It capped a fine night for Japanese boxers moments after bantamweight Saioshi Shimizu had stood on the dais having won a bronze to claim Japan's first boxing medal since the 1968 Mexico Olympics.Murata started well and landed several shots to take a 5-3 lead after the first round, but Falcoa found his range and took the second 5-4 with the Japanese leading going into the final round to set up a tense finale.The Brazilian earned a warning in the third and pinned Murata, the world silver medallist, on the ropes with less than 60 seconds left in the round.At the final bell, Murata raised both fists in the air, while Falcao trudged forlornly to his corner after the judges decided the final round ended 5-all.