Colchester's Lewis Richardson beaten in Olympic qualifier

The 24-year-old middleweight was hoping to progress through his Round of 16 contest for Great Britain, at the Boxing Road to Tokyo European Olympic qualifying event.

But in the final bout of the night, his hopes of competing at this summer's Games was dashed by one of the world’s most highly-rated Olympic boxers.

The experienced Kyzhniak, the 2017 world champion and 2017 and 2019 European champion, used his power and experience to secure a unanimous victory despite Richardson's hard-fought display.

Although it ended Richardson’s hopes of competing at Tokyo 2021, he is still a relative newcomer to the GB Boxing squad.

The experience he has gained over the last two years will stand him in good stead for Paris 2024.

Richardson had beaten the French boxer Victor Yoka in the round of 32 to progress to his meeting with Kyzhniak.

The former Thomas Lord Audley School pupil was one of a dozen men and women from the GB Boxing squad taking part in the Road to Tokyo European Olympic qualifying event in Paris.

The event is a continuation of the Road to Tokyo European Olympic qualifier in London that was suspended after three days of competition in March 2020 owing to the Coronavirus outbreak.

It resumed where the first event left-off and be based on the draw from the original event.

A total of 77 places (50 male, 27 female) at Tokyo 2021 are on offer at the Paris qualifier which will be held across eight men’s weight categories and five for women.

Although boxers will secure Olympic qualification at different stages in the Paris tournament, the competition will continue through to medal stages and a final in all 13 weight classes as performance at the Boxing Road to Tokyo qualifying events will impact on seeding at Tokyo 2021.

Richardson is backed by his sponsors Datum Group, Maldon Demolition, Shaun Hanney Scaffolding and Construction and Jak Finch Hair and has thanked them for all of their support.