Aug. 6 (UPI) -- American Keyshawn Davis has made it to the gold medal lightweight bout after besting Hovhannes Bachkov of Armenia on Friday in a chippy fight at the Tokyo Olympics.
Davis, 22, won by points in an unanimous decision despite being docked a point for holding in the second round, which the judges gave to the 28-year-old Armenian. Davis, however, was credited with the first and third.
"One more to go," Davis said as he walked out of the ring.
He is now guaranteed an Olympic medal, but if he beats Andy Cruz of Cuba on Sunday, he would win the United States' first boxing gold since light heavyweight Andre Ward took the top prize in 2004.
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The bout on Thursday got off to a fast start with Davis trying to get punches in early and using the canvas, forcing Bachkov to stalk him about the ring.
Frequently they locked horns and twice tumbled to the mat.
The referee, Hichem Menchaoui of Tunisia, often had to stop the fight throughout to tell the fighters to keep their heads up and to separate.
In the second round, the Armenian attempted to attack Davis and the American kept trying to swat him away. When the bell rang to end the round, both fighters got late blows in.
In the third, Bachkov came out aggressive but Davis bested the Armenian with speed, timing and precision.
The semifinal bout was held a day after American featherweight boxer Duke Ragan won silver in a loss to Russian Albert Batyraziev.
Team USA has another shot at the gold medal in boxing with Richard Torrez Jr., who has made it to the finals in the men's super heavy.
