The 23-year-old beat Colombia's Yurberjen Herney Martinez on a unanimous points decision and follows in the footsteps of compatriot Mahammatkodir Abdoollayev, who won the men’s light welterweight title at the Sydney 2000 Games.  

Dusmatov took each of the first two rounds across all three judges' scorecards and successfully saw out the victory in the third.

"I would say that the main reason why I've won today is the trust and support of my country and the coaches that gave everything to me to make this gold medal possible," said Dusmatov. 

He earned his place in the final by overcoming the United States' Nico Miguel Hernandez on Friday (August 12).

Martinez, meanwhile, upset world champion Joahnys Argilagos of Cuba in the last four to become the first boxer from Colombia to ever win silver in the Olympics, and the first from the country to medal in 28 years.

The last was Jorge Julio Rocha, who won bronze at the 1988 Games in Seoul, and later went on to win the WBA and WBO bantamweight titles as a professional.

As losing semi-finalists, Hernandez and Argilagos had to settle for bronze.

Hernandez's was the first Olympic boxing medal for an American man since Beijing 2008, when Deontay Wilder won heavyweight bronze.

"It's a great feeling to be the first one to bring a medal home for the USA since 2008," he said. 

"I believe my team-mates have a great chance of bringing more medals home."

The second boxing gold medal match of Rio 2016 is due to take place tomorrow as Russia's Evgeny Tishchenko faces Kazakhstan's Vassiliy Levit at heavyweight.