NEWPORT'S Fred Evans took an Olympic silver medal after losing 17-9 to impressive Kazakh Serik Sapiyev in their men's welterweight final.
The contest in the ExCel Arena saw the Kazakhstan fighter dominate and Evans admitted: "He was sharper today and he's come out on top."
It was clear Evans was in for another tough bout from the start, as the Kazakh, a former two-time world champion at light-welterweight, darted in and out behind a flitting right jab as the Welshman struggled to find his range.
Evans was holding out behind a tight guard, but he was not throwing anywhere near enough punches, and he seemed rather fortunate to only trail by two after the opening round.
The St Joseph's trained fighter had a more encouraging start to the second, landing a looping left, but the Kazakh was still busier, prodding Evans around with his excellent jab, and comfortably extended his lead to five points after two.
Sapiyev even found time for some showboating in the final round as he repelled Evans' advances, bringing Evans' hugely impressive Olympic journey to an end.
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