Britain has one last chance to achieve a medal in Paris
It has been an underwhelming week for British boxing in Paris.
Five out of the six British competitors have been eliminated, and it looks increasingly likely that Team GB could head home from the Olympics without a boxing medal for the first time since 2000, when Audley Harrison took the heavyweight gold.
Four of the five defeats came by close split decisions with Delicious Orie and Rosie Eccles being handed controversial losses to send them on the plane home.
However, hope is still alive for Great Britain, while it may be small. Lewis Richardson is Team GB’s last man standing and keeps their Olympic flame flickering in Paris.
The welterweight fought a tough battle against the 2022 European Champion Vakhid Abbasov to claim a 3-2 split decision win and knock the Serbian out of the competition.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the 27-year-old appeared pleased with his performance as he progressed to the quarter-finals.“I’m over the moon to get the first victory out of the way. I’m extremely happy and extremely proud of myself for making it happen.
“It was a very close bout. We knew he was an extremely classy operator, and we knew it was going to be technical. I just stayed disciplined, and stayed focused.”
While he may be the final hope for Team GB, his sights will be firmly set on ensuring his team does not leave the ring empty-handed. Great Britain is the third most successful boxing nation in Olympic history, having secured 18 gold medals in tournaments to date.
It has not been an easy road to the games for Richardson, having missed out on the Tokyo Games due to a fractured back.
I’ve come through a lot of adversity to even be at these Olympic Games,” he stated. “Obstacles in my way that made the majority of people think the Olympic dream wasn’t meant to be for me.
“We made it happen and got the first one out of the way.”
Richardson will face Zeyad Eashash in the quarter-finals. The Jordan boxer overcame Kazakhstan’s Aslanbek Shymbergenov to progress through to the round of 16.
The bout is scheduled to take place at approximately 7.30 pm UK time on Saturday, August 3.
Meet the Team GB boxers for Paris 2024 Olympics
Super-heavyweight: Delicious Orie
27, Bilston, Wolverhampton
Heavyweight: Patrick Brown
24, Manchester
Middleweight: Chantelle Reid
26, Derby, Derbyshire
Super-welterweight: Lewis Richardson
27, Colchester, Essex
Welterweight: Rosie Eccles
28, Cardiff, Wales
Bantamweight: Charley Davison
30, Lowestoft, Suffolk
Why has Britain struggled at the Olympics?
As a nation full of young prospects, it seems shocking to be so close to leaving the Paris Olympics completely empty-handed, though the explanation is quite simple. The United Kingdom loses a staggering amount of amateur stars to the professional ranks, second only to the United States.
Moses Itauma is arguably the biggest heavyweight prospect in world boxing, however never competed in an Olympic event, instead choosing to turn professional at the age of 18, after just 22 amateur bouts, all of which he won.
He claimed gold at the Youth European and World championships and would have been one of the favourites to take a medal in Paris, though the lure of turning professional is simply too appealing for talented prospects like Itauma, especially now there’s a more opportunities than ever, with Matchroom, Queensberry, BOXXER all thriving in the UK.
The problem is only made worse by the split affiliation between World Boxing and the International Boxing Association (IBA). The IBA was stripped of its recognition with the International Olympic Committee in 2023 following reports of result manipulations at Rio 2016.
This revelation has backed the amateur scene against the ropes, with the IOC threatening to remove the sport from the Olympic roster should a more suitable federation not take charge.
Countries are now either affiliated at an amateur level with one of the two federations, meaning high-level competitions are not inclusive of every nation.
Great Britain is affiliated with World Boxing which currently controls the amateur scene in only 40 nations, with a competition schedule not as developed as the IBA’s. Due to this divide in affiliation, Orie entered the Olympics having never competed at the amateur world championships.
Fortunately, World Boxing appears to be slowly increasing its control across amateur boxing, meaning that in the future the competitions available to boxers will greaten, hopefully allowing for a more dignified showing in 2028 (assuming the conflict with the IOC is resolved).
