91Èȱ¬

Welsh boxer Fred Evans said it was a "dream come true" to win an Olympic medal following his quarter-final victory in the welterweight division.

Evans, 21, won on countback against Canada's Custio Clayton after the three-round contest finished 14-14.

Evans has secured at least a bronze and Wales' second Olympic boxing medal, after Ralph Evans in Munich 1972.

"Unbelievable, obviously it's a dream come true," said Evans, who will fight Taras Shelestyuk in the semi-finals.

"I've been watching it [the Olympics] since I was a child.

"To be here now myself and knowing I'm going to have an Olympic medal around my neck is unbelievable."

Evans led 7-2 after a blistering opening round but Clayton rallied in the second to bring the scores back to 10-8 going into the third.

"I had a big first round and I was five [points] up and I thought 'this is easy'," added Evans.

"But I did switch off a little, thinking I was in too much of a comfortable zone.

"Obviously he's a good fighter, an experienced fighter and he did pull it back.

"But I knew he was going to be a tough fella before I got in there."

After the Cardiff fighter was awarded the result on countback, the Canadian team lodged an unsuccessful appeal against the result on the grounds that Evans should have been deducted points for persistent warnings.

Evans now fights world champion Shelestyuk in the last four on Friday after the Ukrainian beat Frenchman Alexis Vastine, also on countback.

Meanwhile, there was disappointment for Barry boxer Andrew Selby who lost his flyweight quarter-final bout against Robeisy Ramirez Carrazana.

The Cuban boxer proved too strong for Selby, winning the contest 16-11 and progressing to the semi-final stage.

"I've been working all my life to get a medal at the Olympic Games," said Selby.

"I thought I'd come away with a medal today but it just all went wrong when I got in the ring.

"I just couldn't get past his guard."

The 23-year-old Welshman said he would take time to decide whether to continue at amateur level.

"I'm going to have a couple of weeks off, of course," he added.

"Then I'll go back to [Team] GB and see what they want me to do."