Craig Richards (boxer)

Craig Richards (born 30 April 1990) is an English professional boxer. He held the British light-heavyweight title from 2020 to May 2021 and challenged for the WBA (Super) light-heavyweight in May 2021.

Professional career[]

Richards made his professional debut on 28 May 2015, scoring a first-round technical knockout (TKO) victory over a scheduled four rounds against James Child at the York Hall in London.^[2] He ended 2015 with a points decision (PTS) win against Scott Douglas in October.^[3]

He tallied up another five wins in 2016; Kieron Gray on PTS in January;^[4] a TKO over Richard Horton in June;^[5] Dalton Miller^[6] and Adam Jones^[7] by PTS in September; and a TKO over Bronislav Kubin in November.^[8]

On 17 March 2017, Richards fought for his first professional title, winning via ten-round unanimous decision (UD) against Alan Higgins at the York Hall to capture the Southern Area super-middleweight.^[9] He secured a PTS win against Rui Pavanito in July^[10] and a TKO win over Norbert Szekeres in October.^[11] Two days after his win over Szekeres, Callum Johnson pulled out of his British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight unification fight with Frank Buglioni. Richards was brought in as a last minute opponent at five days notice.^[12] The fight took place on 28 October at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, and was aired live on Sky Sports Box Office as part of the undercard for Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam.^[13] Richards suffered the first defeat of his professional career, losing by UD over twelve rounds. Two judges scored the bout 117–111 while the third scored it 116–113.^[14]

Richards came back with three stoppage wins in 2018; Ivan Stupalo in March; Bosko Misic in June;^[15] and Michal Ludwiczak in October.^[16] He began 2019 with a third-round TKO win against Alan Ball to capture the vacant WBA Intercontinental light-heavyweight title. The bout took place on 2 February at The O2 Arena in London.^[17] He had two more fights that year; a twelve-round UD victory against Andre Sterling in June^[18] and an eight-round draw against Chad Sugden in December.^[19]

It was announced in September 2020 that Richards would make a second attempt at the British title, this time against reigning champion Shakan Pitters on 14 November at the Fly By Nite Rehearsal Studios in Redditch.^[20] However, Pitters withdrew from the bout on medical advice after suffering an injury during training, with a new date being scheduled for 18 December at the same venue.^[21] Richards scored a knockdown in the fourth round, dropping the champion to the canvas with a right hook. Pitters made it back to his feet before the referee's count of ten to see out the remainder of the round on his feet. Richards scored a second knockdown in the ninth round, this time with a left hook. Pitters again made it back to his feet, but on unsteady legs, prompting referee Victor Loughlin to call a halt to the contest at 2 minutes and 42 seconds, awarding Richards the British title via ninth-round TKO.^[22]

In March 2021, it was announced that Richards would challenge for his first world title, facing reigning champion Dmitry Bivol for the WBA (Super) light-heavyweight title on 1 May at the AO Arena in Manchester. As part of the undercard for Joseph Parker vs. Derek Chisora, the bout will be televised live on Sky Box Office in the UK and Ireland and streamed through DAZN in all markets excluding the UK, Ireland, China, New Zealand and Samoa.^[23]

Professional boxing record[]

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
20	Win	17–2–1	Marek Matyja	TKO	6 (10), 2:34	30 Oct 2021	The O2 Arena, London, England	Won vacant WBA International light-heavyweight title
19	Loss	16–2–1	Dmitry Bivol	UD	12	1 May 2021	AO Arena, Manchester, England	For WBA (Super) light-heavyweight title
18	Win	16–1–1	Shakan Pitters	TKO	9 (12), 2:42	18 Dec 2020	Fly By Nite Rehearsal Studios, Redditch, England	Won British light-heavyweight title
17	Draw	15–1–1	Chad Sugden	PTS	8	19 Dec 2019	York Hall, London, England
16	Win	15–1	Andre Sterling	UD	12	21 Jun 2019	York Hall, London, England
15	Win	14–1	Jake Ball	TKO	3 (10), 2:27	2 Feb 2019	The O2 Arena, London, England	Won vacant WBA Continental light-heavyweight title
14	Win	13–1	Michal Ludwiczak	TKO	2 (6), 2:35	27 Oct 2018	Copper Box Arena, London, England
13	Win	12–1	Bosko Misic	KO	3 (6), 1:15	6 Jun 2018	York Hall, London, England
12	Win	11–1	Ivan Stupalo	TKO	3 (6), 1:46	24 Mar 2018	The O2 Aren, London, England
11	Loss	10–1	Frank Buglioni	UD	12	28 Oct 2017	Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	For British light-heavyweight title
10	Win	10–0	Norbert Szekeres	TKO	3 (6), 1:58	21 Oct 2017	The SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
9	Win	9–0	Rui Pavanito	PTS	6	1 Jul 2017	The O2 Arena, London, England
8	Win	8–0	Alan Higgins	PTS	10	17 Mar 2017	York Hall, London, England	Won Southern Area super-middleweight title
7	Win	7–0	Bronislav Kubin	TKO	2 (6), 2:50	26 Nov 2016	Wembley Arena, London, England
6	Win	6–0	Adam Jones	PTS	6	29 Sep 2016	York Hall, London, England
5	Win	5–0	Dalton Miller	PTS	4	10 Sep 2016	The O2 Arena, London, England
4	Win	4–0	Richard Horton	TKO	1 (4), 2:59	21 Jun 2016	York Hall, London, England
3	Win	3–0	Kieron Gray	PTS	4	30 Jan 2016	Copper Box Arena, London, England
2	Win	2–0	Scott Douglas	PTS	4	10 Oct 2015	York Hall, London, England
1	Win	1–0	James Childs	TKO	1 (4), 0:49	28 May 2015	York Hall, London, England

References[]

External links[]

• Boxing record for Craig Richards from BoxRec