SYDNEY -- Makoto Takimoto won Japan's third gold medal of the Sydney Games on Tuesday night with two of the best bouts of the Olympic tournament so far.
The Japanese champion showed unshakable composure to snatch gold in the under-81-kg class by defeating World Championship bronze medalist and Atlanta silver medalist Cho In Chul of South Korea in a grueling matchup that sent both fighters cartwheeling around the mat for the full five minutes.
But first Takimoto had to survive the battle of the iceman versus the madman, another five minute scrap with defending Olympic champion Djamel Bouras of France in which he copped an elbow in the eye that sent him sprawling to the mat.