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Lewis Richardson saved Great Britain’s boxing team from their first Olympic wipeout since 1996 after victory in his opening 71kg contest in Paris on Wednesday evening.
A narrow defeat for middleweight Chantelle Reid earlier on Wednesday had left the British team facing the prospect of returning from the French capital with all six of their boxers having lost their first bouts.
But Richardson survived a split decision to sink Serbia’s experienced Vakhid Abbasov and book his place in the quarter-finals.
It ended a painful run for the British team who were hampered by a difficult draw and endured a series of close and debatable decisions in the opening days of the Games.
Reid had been the latest to find herself on the end of a contentious verdict against Morocco’s reigning world heavyweight champion Khadija Mardi.
Reid boxed superbly from the centre of the ring to take the opening round on all five judges’ cards before Mardi fought back to effectively level going into the last.
It was always going to be a tall order for Reid to come out on top in a final three-minute showdown but she arguably landed the cleaner work through her taller opponent’s guard and could count herself unfortunate to drop the verdict.
Nevertheless, it was a performance to be proud of by Reid, a former celebrated junior who only returned to the sport in April last year after six years out due to degenerative disc disease.
Reid cut a philosophical figure in the mixed zone, refusing to blame bad luck for a series of decisions that privately GB chiefs believe ought not to have gone against them.
I definitely won the first round but then she changed her tactics and made it a bit harder. I tried to stick to my plan but unfortunately she got the decision— Chantelle Reid
“I definitely won the first round but then she changed her tactics and made it a bit harder. I tried to stick to my plan but unfortunately she got the decision,” said Reid.
“I feel so blessed just to have qualified and boxed the best in the world. Whatever happens now I am an Olympian. It’s something that cannot be taken off me and it’ll stick with me for the rest of my life.
“I feel so blessed to have been part of this team, just to be here with the best team and support staff. We have all been sticking together and supporting each other.”
Richardson’s win meant Britain avoided the fate that befell them at the 1996 Games in Atlanta when both their representatives, David Burke and Fola Okesola, lost their first bouts.
