Olympics-Boxing-Richardson ready to shoulder slim British hopes at Paris Games

By Aadi Nair

PARIS (Reuters) - After all five of his teammates lost their opening bouts, welterweight Lewis Richardson said he will gladly carry the flag for Britain all by himself at the Paris Olympics following his round of 16 win over Serbia's Vakhid Abbasov on Wednesday.

Richardson, who recovered from a slow start to take a 3-2 split decision win, next faces Jordanian Zeyad Eashash in the men's boxing quarter-finals on Saturday.

Asked about what his win meant for a British contingent that has endured a horrid opening five days in the boxing competition, Richardson said: "It's big, obviously, there's no denying we've lost some very, very close decisions."

"It hasn't quite gone our way, but tonight I was able to change that. I'm that person now that's got to carry the flag, but I'm more capable of doing that.

"I'm not under pressure myself, I'm ready to do what it takes to become an Olympic medallist. I think I can go all the way," he added.

The 27-year-old was the picture of confidence after his win, loudly proclaiming "Lewis Richardson can win Olympic gold".

However, he admitted that his self-belief was not always this high, saying he sought support during a difficult period in which he was struggling to make weight.

"I felt a little bit lost middle of last year, but I had sort of a light bulb moment. I was like, 'I'm doing this. I'm going to make 71kg'," Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Richardson added.

"I'm not afraid to say, I did seek psychological support. That's helped me tenfold because I believe I'm a physically and mentally strong person," he said.

"Sports psychologists and also, psychological support outside of that. I've been working on myself from a sporting aspect, but also a personal aspect. I believe I've definitely grown as a person as well as a boxer."

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Paris; Editing by Bill Berkrot)