Anthony Joshua became the third British man to book his place in an Olympic boxing final as he cut down 6ft 9ins Kazakh Ivan Dychko with a big final-round performance to pull out a 13-11 victory in the super heavyweight division.
Joshua had jumped straight out at his Kazakh opponent, just missing with a big right hook, and a lightning left jab enabled him to set the pace in the contest, although he was rightly wary of Dychko's ability to find the target with left-hand counters.
The Kazakh's busy lefts were scoring well, but a clubbing right uppercut from Joshua kept him in the hunt and it was no surprise that the giant pair found themselves locked together at four points all at the end of the first.
Both men swung wildly at the start of the second, with Joshua getting the better of that particular exchange, and a sweeping right hook grazed Dychko's chin as the Briton plainly began to seek to take a foothold in the contest.
A pair of left jabs appeared to consolidate Joshua's advantage, although he was caught by a strong right hand by the Kazakh, whose better work in the final 30 seconds of the round helped him keep the score locked together at 8-8 going into the final round.
Joshua continued stalking Dychko in the last, stabbing a straight left which drew blood from Dychko's nose, and another super left looked to give him the advantage although Dychko also landed a wide hook in the generally tentative exchanges.