By Jake Donovan

For the second straight night, Japan's Ryota Murata endured a far greater challenge than was the case in last year's World Amatuer championship run. 

For the second straight night, it was still enough to score repeat wins.

One day after beating Abbos Atoev for the second time in as many tries, Murata staved off a late rally Brazil's Esquiva Falcao to take a 14-13 win in Saturday's middleweight finals. 

The difference in scoring came down to a public warning issued to Falcao for what was ruled excessive holding. The two-point swing killed a brave rally by the Brazilian, who adjusted from early struggles to turn the fight into a genuine nailbiter.

Murata took advantage of Falcao's initial tentativeness, serving as the aggressor early on. The tactic proved to be enough to eventually cross the finish line, even if he was forced to crawl by the end. 

Falcao shook loose his nerves and went to work in the second. The rally appeared to be a permanent momentum changer, before the final round penalty crushed his hopes. 

The win by Murata gives Japan its lone Gold medal in 2012 Olympic boxing competition and second overall, joining bantamweight bronze medalist Satoshi Shimizu on the podium. 

Falcao is one of two fighters from Brazil to have earned a medal. His Olympic silver is one grade above the bronze earned by his older brother Yamaguchi Falcao, who was eliminated in Friday's light heavyweight semifinals.

* Ogogo and Atoev share Bronze medal honors

Middleweights - Round of 16 Matchups (Thursday, August 2):

Anthony Ogogo (Great Britain) def. Ievgen Khytrov (Ukraine), 18-18 (double tiebreaker)

Stefan Hartel (Germany) def. Darren O'Neill, 19-12

Zoltan Harcsa (Hungary) def. Mjundjae Kasuto (Namibia), 16-7

Ezquiva Falcao (Brazil) def. Soltan Migitinov (Azerbaijan), 24-11

Abbos Atoev (Uzbekistan) def. Bogdan Juratoni (Romania), 12-10

Vijender Singh (India) def. Terrell Gausha, 16-15

Adem Kılıççı (Turkey) def. Aleksander Drenovak (Serbia), 20-11

Ryota Murata (Japan) def. Abdelmalek Rahou (Algeria), 21-12

Middleweights - Round of 32 Results (Saturday, July 28):

Anthony Ogogo (Great Britain) def. Junior Castillo (Dominican Republic), 13-6

Darren O'Neill (Ireland) def. Muideen Akanji (Nigeria), 15-6

Stefan Hartel (Germany) def. Enrique Collazo (Puerto Rico), 18-10

Mjundjae Kasuto (Namibia) def. Sobirdzhon Inazarov (Tajikistan), 11-8

Zoltan Harcsa (Hungary) def. Jose Espinoza (Venezuela), 16-13

Soltan Migitinov (Azerbaijan) def. Mohamed Hikal (Egypt), 20-12

Abbos Atoev (Uzbekistan) def. Badr-Eddine Haddioui (Morocco) – 11-9

Terrell Gausha (USA) def. Andranik Hakobyan (Armenia) - RSC-3

Vijender Singh (India) def. Danabek Suzhanov (Kazakhstan) - 14-10

Adem Kılıççı (Turkey) def. Nursahat Pazziyev (Turkmenistan) - 14-7

Aleksander Drenovak (Serbia) def. Mario Delgado (Ecuador) - 30-12

Abdelmalek Rahou (Algeria) def. Jesse Ross (Australia), 13-11

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox