Lewis Richardson bags boxing bronze in Paris

Lewis Richardson had to settle for bronze after being beaten on split decision by Mexico’s Marco Verde in the men’s 71kg semi-final at Roland Garros .

Richardson started well landing a solid punch to Verde’s face, but the Mexican grew back into the round throwing a series of different combinations and breaking through the British fighter’s defence.

The second round saw the British fighter show off his skills, landing a great uppercut and a couple of big blows to Verde’s head to take the round on the majority of the judges’ cards.

An evenly-poised contest boiled down to the third round and Richardson began to use his reach more, throwing a big strike to Verde’s nose.

The Mexican caught the British fighter on the cheek but struggled to land some big swings before being hit in the face again by Richardson.

However all five judges saw it differently and awarded the Mexican the round which meant Richardson’s dream of reaching the Olympic final was over.