England’s Richardson called up to GB squad for London Olympic qualifer

Lewis Richardson will box for Great Britain in the middleweight category at the Boxing Road to Tokyo Qualifying event in London after Wales’ Sammy Lee was forced to withdraw through injury.

It means the Colchester middleweight will have the opportunity to qualify for Tokyo 2020 when the action gets underway at the Copper Box Arena on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London from 14-24 March 2020.

Tickets for the event are on sale now at https://see.tickets/boxingroadtotokyo  with prices starting at £5 (£2.50 concessions) for many of the sessions at the biggest Olympic boxing event to take place in England since the 2012 Olympic Games.

Lee was forced to pull-out after sustaining an injury to ligaments in his shoulder.  GB Boxing has consulted with a leading Consultant in this area and the injury does not require surgery, so Lee will remain in camp at GB Boxing where he will be treated by the medical team.

GB Boxing’s Performance Director, Rob McCracken said: “This is very disappointing news for Sammy after he worked so hard to get selected at middleweight.

“Sammy’s bad luck opens the door for Lewis Richardson who is our reserve at this weight and has been in good form recently.  He won the test event in Tokyo in October and was excellent in the recent training camp in Kazakhstan where he acquitted himself very well against some top-class boxers.”

Richardson, 22, has been part of the GB Boxing squad for two years. He will need to reach the last six at the Boxing Road to Tokyo qualifier in London to earn himself a place at the Olympic Games.

If he does not make the last six there is a second a final qualifying opportunity at Boxing Road to Tokyo in Paris in May 2020.  Lee is expected to come back into contention to be selected for this event and would be up-against Richardson and the other middleweights in the GB Boxing squad, Mark Dickinson and Sean Lazzerini.

Boxing Road to Tokyo in London is an IOC event which is supported by funding from the National Lottery and The Mayor of London and will be delivered in association with a range of partners including UK Sport, GB Boxing, the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Further information about the event is available at www.boxingroadtotokyolondon.org.