COLCHESTER boxer Lewis Richardson believes his outstanding gold medal-winning display at the Bocskai Memorial Tournament has set him up perfectly for his pursuit of Olympic qualification.

The 23-year-old middleweight claimed gold for Great Britain, after winning five bouts in the space of just five days at the international event, in Hungary.

Richardson now turns his attention to the resumption of the Olympic qualifiers, with his next bout due to take place in April.

And the former Thomas Lord Audley School pupil feels his excellent display in Debrecen has sent out a warning to all of his future opponents.

Richardson said: “I think this is my best achievement so far and what a time for it to happen.

“It puts me in a massively positive position, heading forward into the qualifiers.

“I think it says ‘this kid is here and hopefully he’s here to stay’ and I believe I will be.

“I think this is a big statement, especially on the European stage.

“To do it in the fashion I did it in, in such a short space of time in a high-intensity environment sends out a message.

“I feel great – I’ve had good prep for this and I’m in great condition, considering the amount of time I had.

“Injuries are minimal at the moment and I feel in a good place.

“I was there to perform – there were a few 50-50 fights there and I just thought, this is my time to make a statement and I believe I did that.”

Richardson has now not lost for nearly two years and is unbeaten in his last eight GB bouts.

He claimed gold after outpointing Croatia’s Jezek Noa in the final in Hungary, his fifth victory in rapid succession.

“I knew I had that grit and determination but I had to show that in that fifth bout,” said Richardson, who is a podium squad member on GB Boxing’s World Class Performance Programme.

“I don’t really remember much about the fight but I remember that it wasn’t going the way I wanted it to and my shots weren’t landing how I wanted them to land.

“That’s respect to the opponent because he was obviously making it difficult for me, like I made it difficult it for him and all of the other opponents I box.

“It was a feeling of relief when I won the final.

“I just felt so tired in there and it was a real big effort on Friday – I had to grind it out and dig really, really deep.

“I think the Croatian was tired as well - we were the only two in the whole competition who had had five fights in five days, because middleweight was the busiest division and our draws meant that we boxed on the first day, whereas some other people got a bye.

“It was a great fight and I have a lot of respect for him.

“I spoke to him afterwards and I said ‘we’ll do this again one day and we’ll have a better fight next time’ and he said the same – it was nice.

“My third fight was probably my biggest fight and we knew a lot about him.

“That took a lot out of me and then you have to do it again twice – it was just a mad week but obviously a massive, massive positive week.”

Richardson is backed by his sponsors Datum Group, Maldon Demolition and Jak Finch Hair and has thanked them for all of their support.