ST. PETERSBURG -- The mighty Cuban boxing machine suffered its first defeat of the Goodwill Games when national lightweight champion Diosvelis Hurtado lost to Russia's Paata Gvasalia in an enthralling fight.


Olympic heavyweight champion Felix Savon almost joined the also-rans later Sunday when he struggled for two rounds against France's Christophe Mendy before finally scraping through.


But despite the setback, the Cubans again look to be the best-prepared side and nothing should prevent them amassing a rich haul of medals.


Hurtado's only consolation was that he helped to put on the best bout of the tournament so far with Gvasalia, the Russian national lightweight champion.


The boxers went at each other from the first bell and the match was even until Gvasalia, who has fought twice as many international bouts as Hurtado, sent the Cuban staggering into the ropes in the second round.


Early in the third round the 21-year-old Russian landed a fierce punch to Hurtado's head, forcing his opponent to take a standing count.


Savon, world champion for the last four years, was well on the way to wiping the floor with Mendy in the first round as he overwhelmed the Frenchman in a flurry of flashing fists. Mendy recuperated, however, and fought back well before succumbing.


A day earlier, the opening day of the Goodwill Games got off to a heavy start as Sergei Syrztsov set three world records in weightlifting.


Syrztsov, 28, broke his own world records Saturday in the snatch, clean-and-jerk and overall total in the 99 kilogram class. He lifted 191 kilos in the snatch and 227.5 in the clean-and-jerk and for a total of 418.5.


(Reuters, AP)