At the Paris Olympics, Ireland’s Kelly Harrington won the gold medal in the women’s 60kg class, but Great Britain boxer Lewis Richardson missed out on a place in the men’s 71kg final after losing to Mexico’s Marco Verde.
Harrington defeated Yang Wenru in the women’s 60kg final at Roland Garros to win a double Olympic gold medal.
After a cautious start, Yan appeared to be gaining ground with punches, but Harrington regained his composure and landed a flurry of body shots before the bell rang.
The Chinese boxer started off strong in the second round with a powerful punch to the nose, but Harrington continued to inflict damage with powerful body shots.
In the final round, the Irish fighter landed a quick jab to secure an easy victory, giving Ireland their fourth gold medal of the tournament.
Lewis Richardson had to settle for the bronze medal at Roland Garros after losing a split decision to Mexico’s Marco Verde in the men’s 71 kg semi-finals.
That evening, Richardson lost a split decision to Verde and had to settle for the bronze medal.
The Brit started well, landing some hard punches to Verde’s face, but the Mexican came back in the round and landed a series of different combinations that broke through the British fighter’s defenses.
The second round saw the Colchester fighter show his skills, landing a fantastic uppercut and two powerful blows to Verde’s head to take the round.
The fight was close going into the third round, with Richardson using his reach more and landing some powerful blows to Verde’s nose.
The Mexican caught the English fighter’s cheek but struggled to land a big punch before being punched in the face again by Richardson.
But all five judges saw it differently and awarded Round 1 to the Mexican, ending Richardson’s dreams of reaching the Olympic final.
The bronze medal means Richardson will be the only British boxer to win a medal at Paris 2024.
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Although Richardson lost to Mexico’s Marco Verde in the welterweight division, he remains the only British boxer to win a medal at Paris 2024.
He had already secured the bronze medal with a win over Zeyad Ishash in Saturday’s quarterfinals and reflected on the bittersweet feeling of missing out on gold.
He said: “It’s very raw and it’s hard to process it right now.”
“We won the bronze medal but it’s hard to celebrate fully because we’re moving on to the next one and trying to change the colour of the medal.”
“Whenever the time is right, preferably sooner rather than later, I’ll make a conscious effort to flip the switch and be proud of what I’ve achieved.”
“Right or wrong, I am the only British boxer to win a medal at this tournament and I hope I have made the country proud.”
Verde will compete for the gold medal against Uzbekistan’s Asadokuzha Muydinkuzhayev later this week.
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