Lewis Richardson loses Olympic semi-final to Marco Verde

LEWIS RICHARDSON’S dreams of Olympic gold melted away as he conceded a split decision loss to Mexico’s Marco Verde Alvarez in their Paris Olympics semi-final. In only his 16th bout at 71kgs, Richardson, the 27-year-old southpaw from Colchester, was boxing for a place in the Olympic final.

There was raucous support for the Mexican who came out to meet Richardson in centre ring. Occasionally dropping his hands to have a look, Richardson’s right jab was a key weapon, followed by a left hand to the body. Verde’s right hook came into play as the opening round drew to a close, with Verde 3-2 up.

The two lean southpaws continued that energy into the second round. After an untidy spell, Richardson withdrew, sporting a cut under the left eye. Verde pushed the pace as Richardson looked for a left uppercut. The Englishman was 4-1 up after a strong second round.

Verde Alvarez needed a strong third in return and he delivered, firing in shots from both hands to head and body. That effort and endeavour earned him a 5-0 sweep and an overall split decision victory.

The final scores read: Bachir Abbar 29-28, Holger Kussmaul 29-28, Chia Chan Lin 28-29, Wade Peterson 30-27, Muhammad Pohan 28-29 in favour of Verde.

Sri Lankan referee Nelka Thampu kept on top of the action throughout. Despite today’s disappointment, Richardson exits the tournament with a bronze medal and can hold his head high after three quality displays.

Opening the evening’s action, Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev of Uzbekistan found the range, rhythm and tempo to snake charm American Omari Jones over three rounds, winning a 3-2 decision win.