Olympic Medallist Lewis Richardson Deliberates Professional Boxing Future

Lewis Richardson, an Olympic bronze medallist, is taking his time to finalize his professional boxing career plans, having initially taken up the sport to improve his fitness for football. The 27-year-old boxer from Colchester advanced to the light-middleweight semi-finals in Paris, where he was defeated by Mexico’s Marco Verde via a split decision. Despite this, he was the only boxing medallist for Team GB, adding to his previous achievements of a middleweight silver at the European Championships and a bronze at the Commonwealth Games, both secured in 2022. Speaking to BBC Essex, Richardson stated, “I’ve had meetings with promoters and managers and new trainers and we’re just negotiating at the moment. I need a little bit of time to navigate my path.” He elaborated on the structure of amateur boxing, noting, “The beauty of GB boxing is you’re one big team and they look after you, you’re almost employed by them. We’ve got a little bit of security there.” Regarding the transition to professional boxing, he commented, “With the professional side, it’s almost like going self employed – 100% it’s a business and you need to build the right team around you.” Since his achievements at the summer Games, Richardson has been actively involved in community work and making personal appearances. While he typically prefers to progress from one objective to the next, he indicated he is not yet prepared to abandon his Olympic aspirations. He further explained, “Boxing’s very unique. I’ve got massive respect for all sports but boxing in particular, you train physically to be in the best shape you can be and at elite level we’re all really fit and strong, but what separates you in the boxing ring is that mental edge.” He continued, “Being able to control yourself while someone is trying to knock you out, it sounds brutal but it’s beautifully brutal, in my opinion, because there’s a real art to it, it’s like a physical game of chess. Over the last year, I’ve really cracked that.” Richardson expressed his desire to make his professional debut in early 2025, but indicated that he might extend his amateur career if circumstances do not align. He stated, “If it doesn’t make sense from a business perspective, or I struggle to find that team and build that team around me, there’s still an opportunity for me to stay on the Olympic route.” He added, “I’m 27 so I’ve got time to go to another Olympics. I’m not young, but I’m not old but if I want to go down the professional route, I need to probably get things moving with that sooner rather than later because I’ll have aspirations to become a world champion.” Lewis Richardson’s comments were made during an interview with Sonia Watson of BBC Essex.