Lewis Richardson, the last Team GB boxer left in the Olympic Games, recorded a first win for his team when he outscored Vakhid Abbasov on split decision in his opening contest.
GB boxing was teetering on the brink of losing every one of their bouts at Paris 2024, as their medals hopes had tumbled one by one in the preliminary stage, in a campaign that has been marred by several contentious judging decisions.
It meant however that the pressure on Richardson was acute, especially going up against a European gold medallist in the Russia-born Serb.
A southpaw, like Abbasov, the Colchester man looked to find his range with jabs. They fenced for position, feinting with twitching shoulders as they looked to trigger a mistake.
Richardson circled round his opponent, landing the occasional solid counter left, but fast jabs from Abbasov snuck through.
The Serbian shaded the first round. But Richardson came out for the second round positively, taking the centre of the ring and he landed the best punch of the bout, a cracking short left over the top that shook up Abbasov.
Richardson kept his composure under pressure. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
He brought himself back into the contest but still had it all to do in the third round.
With the outcome finely poised neither man could afford an error.
They probed at each other with jabs, though Richardson edged some of their exchanges with solid counter-punching. It was just enough to tip the scoring his way.
He came through with a split decision win and bellowed with delight at the outcome.
Richardson will now box Jordan’s Zeyad Eashash in the 71kgs quarter-final on Saturday night.
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Lewis Richardson describes his experience of having to drop from 75 to 71 kilograms to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Earlier on Wednesday GB middleweight Chantelle Reid lost her opening contest, but the Derby boxer could still take pride in a remarkable comeback that led her to these Games.
Reid had spent six years out of the sport after being diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, only returning last year. She managed to win a spot on GB and qualify for Paris.
But she was drawn against Morocco’s Khadija Mardi, a world gold medallist up at heavyweight (81&kgs).
Mardi had substantial advantage in size and reach but Reid boxed superbly in the opening round of the contest, moving nimbly and catching the Moroccan with quick combinations.
Chantelle Reid takes on Khadija Mardi
Mardi found her range in the second round. The third round was fought hard, with Reid landing well yet again but Mardi was pressuring to keep it close and she pocketed a split decision.
Reid might well be back though. “I’ve really enjoyed being on Team GB, I’ve not been on here long so four more years isn’t out of the picture,” she said afterwards.
“I’m grateful to be here with the best team, best coaches, best support staff. I’m boxing with the best in the world. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I’m just so grateful to be an Olympian and that’s not going to be taken off me so. That is going to stay with me for the rest of my life.
“Two years ago I never envisioned this. Last January I came back aiming to win the [national] championships let alone qualify for the Olympics. But, yeah, I’m an Olympian and I’m proud of myself, proud of my graft, proud I gave 100 per cent in my performance and that’s all I could have asked myself to do.”
Ngamba has her hand raised aloft in a memorable victory
The most spectacular performance from a UK-based boxer came from Cindy Ngamba.
Ngamba, now 25, has lived in England since she was 11 years old. She is a three-time three-weight England Boxing national champion from Bolton and trains with the GB squad in Sheffield, but without a passport she has not been able to represent Britain at these Games.
Originally from Cameroon, she has refugee status. She’s even previously faced the threat of deportation from the Home Office, but Cameroon is unsafe for LGBTQ+ people so it would be dangerous for Ngamba to be sent to the country, which she left as a child.
A place on the IOC’s refugee team has allowed Ngamba to box internationally. She qualified for the Games, only to be drawn against Canada’s middleweight world gold medallist Tammara Thibeault in her first bout.
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Cindy Ngamba outlined her inspirational story as she’ll represent the IOC Refugee Olympic Team in the boxing.
The task ahead of her became that much harder, when Thibeault handed her a standing count in the opening seconds of the contest.
Ngamba was a round down, against a top-class southpaw with a dangerous back hand. But she rose to the occasion magnificently.
Ngamba closed down the space between them and worked in booming shots. She wrested the second round her way and continued to harry Thibeault in the third and last.
They fought to a near standstill but Ngamba found the answers to overhaul Thibeault and seize a memorable victory, taking a split decision win.
“Being here means the world to me, and I hope it means the world to many other people,” Ngamba said.
“I hope that them watching me, they can see that through anything in life I was able to overcome.”
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