NO DECISION...NO SURPRISE

Richardson has to settle for bronze... 'I felt like I won it'

- MIKE WALTERS

ON the night ruffians from Bash Street took over Roland Garros, Team GB’s interest in the Paris 2024 boxing debacle expired.

If Lewis Richardson was not short-changed by the judges in his narrow defeat by Mexican pro Marco Verde, he had his pocket picked.

After the serial daylight robbery which had threatened to send the Brits home with a total wipeout, the Colchester southpaw can be proud of his bronze medal.

He boxed smarter, sharper and more streetwise than Verde, but the latest travesty was almost inevitable. Put five Olympic boxing judges in charge of the North Atlantic and three would have given the Titanic the verdict over the iceberg.

Just 48 hours after Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz to Olympic gold on Court Philippe Chatrier, a temple of tennis was transformed into a warriors' coliseum.