WRONG TO AXE MIDDLEWEIGHT
Medalhope Lewis Richardson explains why IBA are making a mistake
LEWIS RICHARDSON believes the Commonwealth Games will prove that IBA are wrong to axe middleweights from the Paris Olympics.
Richardson heads to Birmingham as one of the favourites for gold at 75kgs after winning European silver behind Gabriel Dossen in Armenia in May.
Rivals for medals at the NEC include Indian prodigy Sumit Kundu and Scotland’s Sam Hickey – and Richardson reckons the world’s top pound-for-pound amateur is a middleweight, Oleksandr Kyzhniak.
The Ukrainian went on to win a second world championship in Serbia last October after beating Richardson and the Colchester southpaw said: “There’s a lot of talent out there that people won’t see at the next Olympics. Seventy-five kilos is always a strong division. There’s so much strength in depth.
“The fans will be missing out. Middleweights are fast and they punch hard. It’s one of the best divisions to watch. It’s a big blow, but I’m just focusing on the Commonwealth Games.”
Competing in Birmingham will be the pinnacle of a 100-bout amateur career that started when he followed big brother Deacon to Centurions ABC as a teenager.
Deacon gave up boxing – and Lewis describes him as “unbelievable, bonkers.
“I know it’s crazy to get hit in the face, but he does the most amazing challenges.
“He has done a couple of ultra marathons (54 miles) and cycled from the east coast to the west on his own. He went on a bike I bought off Facebook and it took him 10 or 11 nights. He raised thousands of pounds.
“He does a lot of weird and wonderful things. He is a bit crazy, but he has a good heart.”
Richardson, who is in final year of a Masters degree in Sports Business Management at Hallam University, is confident of winning gold in Birmingham and says he’s ‘unbeatable’ at table tennis and badminton at the English Institute of Sport.
“I’m so competitive,” he said. “Everything I do, I have to win – even when the stakes aren’t very high. There’s a table tennis table at the gym and the boys play me for ages. They want to play until they beat me, but they can’t.
“Sometimes I think: ‘Shall I let them win?’ but I can’t do it.
“It’s the same with badminton. They are all competitive too and we end up playing for ages. It’s good exercise and it keeps us away from food!”