Workforce GB boxer Lewis Richardson admitted he was “over the moon” after guaranteeing himself an Olympic boxing medal following a split-decision win towards Zeyad Eashash.
In a frenetic begin to their males’s 71kg quarter-final, Eashash received the primary couple of blows in with some fast punches, however Richardson countered and landed a few stable blows to his opponent’s face.
Richardson was capable of dodge most of his opponent’s punches effectively and broke by Eashash’s guard with some clear photographs to the face because the Jordanian fighter started to tire within the closing spherical.
Victory means the Workforce GB boxer is assured at the very least a bronze medal and can now face Mexico’s Marco Alonso Verde Alvarez within the semi-finals on Tuesday.
“I’m just over the moon to be honest,” Richardson mentioned. “I am extraordinarily grateful for these alternatives and I am coping with these stress conditions very effectively. I did not massively really feel the stress, however I used to be conscious the expectation was on me from the nation from a boxing perspective.
“I imagine all of the accidents and setbacks, the uncontrollable elements which have modified the goalposts, has made me a stronger particular person mentally and bodily. The expertise I’ve gained from conditions and experiences have allowed me to carry out on the most important stage on the planet and do it very effectively.
“These are special moments in my life and my family’s lives. I’m an Olympic medallist for life and now it’s time to change that colour.”
GB boxing was teetering getting ready to dropping each considered one of their bouts at Paris 2024 earlier than Richardson’s run to a medal, having seen Charley Davison, Rosie Eccles, Pat Brown, Scrumptious Orie and Chantelle Reid all eradicated early.
‘Underdog’ Harrington reaches girls’s 60kg closing for Eire
Eire’s Kellie Harrington admitted she felt like an “underdog” after reaching her second successive Olympic boxing closing with a split-decision victory over Beatriz Ferreira within the girls’s 60kg semi-final.
In a rematch of their Tokyo 2020 closing – during which Harrington emerged victorious – the Irish boxer began brightly with some good jabs to her opponent’s face and started to land a couple of stronger punches, earlier than Ferreira completed with a few good hits.
The Brazilian bristled with power within the second spherical and hit an excellent proper hook to Harrington’s head earlier than following up with some tidy jabs, however the Irish boxer threw some onerous physique photographs in response.
All of it boiled all the way down to the ultimate spherical, the place Ferreira threw some ferocious punches, just for Harrington to fireside an excellent strike to the face along with her left hand and emerge victorious. Harrington will now face Wenlu Yang within the closing on Tuesday.
“It just feels fantastic to get that fight out the way because Bea is a fantastic opponent and since Tokyo she’s gone on to do great things in the professional ranks and I felt like I was the underdog in there,” Harrington mentioned.
“I knew she had a point to prove, all anyone’s been talking about is, ‘you’re going to meet Beatriz’ and I was like, ‘it might not happen’. It has happened and thankfully it turned out the way it turned out.
“I loved it greater than I loved Tokyo, that is for certain. I simply really feel comfortable, I feel the happiness is as a result of I am coming to the tip of the highway and I feel I simply know there’s life on the finish of the tunnel.”
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