Lerrone Richards: The super-middleweight targeting elite company and Chris Eubank Jr reunion

INTERVIEW
On the up: Lerrone Richards
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Tony Mogan26 April 2020

Lerrone Richards racked up the two biggest wins of his boxing career in 2019 - and yet his ring attire on those nights probably sparked just as much conversation as those slick performances.

The super-middleweight picked up the Commonwealth and British titles wearing his fuzzy bumblebee trunks in tribute to the great Muhammad Ali. “My dad calls me an exhibitionist in the ring, I like to be flamboyant,” Richards told Standard Sport.

“I’m a huge fan of Ali so I thought, ‘those bee shorts might look real good on me.’ I love it and I'm going to stick with it from now on.”

This is no case of style over substance, however. Victories over Tommy Langford in April and Lennox Clarke in November extended his record to 13-0 and provided a telling reminder of Richards’ potential having been kept out of the ring for various reasons over the previous four years.

Injury curtailed his progress in 2018. Prior to that, complications and a dispute with a former manager sparked a period of inactivity for the New Malden fighter that lasted over two years.

Richards lifted the Commonwealth title last year.
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“It was a hard time for me,” recalled the southpaw, who started his career at Kingston Amateur Boxing Gym before winning nine national titles fighting out of Repton and Earlsfield clubs.

“Boxing isn’t all I know, but it's something I have been doing all my life and something I love doing so it was hard. In that time, I spent a lot of time developing myself, physically and mentally, developing myself into a man.”

While it was only last year Richards began to demand mainstream attention for himself, the 27-year-old‘s reputation is well established in boxing circles with one of his former sparring partners, current WBO super-middleweight champion, Billy Joe Saunders once describing him as the best kept secret in British boxing.

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“It was nice. I will never forget it,” he said of the praise. “One thing about me, I never forget what people have done for me. But I wanted to prove to myself and to prove everyone else what Billy Joe was talking about was real, not rubbish. I feel like now is the time to start to do that.”

During his enforced absence, Richards developed a reputation as a formidable and reliable sparring partner for world champions from these shores, working with Saunders prior to his world title victory over Andy Lee in 2015 and putting in the rounds with George Groves and Tony Bellew.

But his time working with another major name has sparked the most chatter in boxing circles, said to have got the best of Chris Eubank Jr during a session in the latter’s very own gym. Telling the story, ‘Sniper The Boss’ explained how the two fought six rounds with Eubank Jr eager to continue at the end of it. Nursing a shoulder problem at the time, Richards declined, instead offering to take him up on the offer another day. Then things turned sour.

“He started to say to me I wouldn’t make it. So I said, ‘Chris, I’m sure you’ll make it and I’ll make it too’. And then he said: ‘I’ve already made it, I’m British champion.'

“I remember the words like it was yesterday. ‘I’ve already made it, I’m British champion.’ Well I’m British champion now and I’m not standing here saying I’ve made it because I haven’t.”

Eubank told Richards 'he would not make it'.
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Eubank Jr is now focused on challenging for major world title honours this year. Richards appreciates the two, for now, have different objectives in their careers but believes a grudge match later down the line - possibly with a world title up for grabs - could be inevitable.

“If he was just a nice and humble champion, none of this would have gone on. I’m not saying I’m chasing him because I have got my own career and other avenues I can go down. But it’s definitely a fight I want in the future.

"I want to build my profile with Frank Warren, he’s a great promoter. If he keeps pushing me towards that world level maybe me and Chris Eubank Jr can have a big fight one day.”

Before boxing was brought to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, Richards was out in a Las Vegas fight camp with heavyweight Joe Joyce, with whom he shares a manager with in Sam Jones.

Like Joyce, who is on a collision course with another Londoner in Daniel Dubois, Richards was also preparing for an April fight date which is now on hold. There are still a host of intriguing options for him with other domestic super-middleweights, namely former British champion Zach Parker, who sealed a career-best performance with an emphatic 11th round TKO victory over WBO No.1 ranked contender Rohan Murdock in March.

“He’s a good boxer, a big puncher and undefeated. Our paths will definitely cross paths in the future,” Richards said of Parker. “I feel me and him still need to have that dust-up to show everyone who is the best super-middleweight in the country, excluding all the world level fighters.

“Zach is ranked no1 so no matter what anyone says he is world level because of the ranking he has. I feel like I’ve proven myself at domestic level holding the titles I have. I want to move on to European and fringe world level and in 2021 we move onto that world title level.”

Richards got a comfortable decision win over Langford in April.
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Super-middleweight remains a relentlessly competitive division and in addition to British duo Saunders and WBA king Callum Smith, two other elite operators in Caleb Plant and David Benevidez rule as IBF and WBC champions respectively.

There is also the small matter of pound-for-pound great Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, who is poised to return to 160lbs where he has only fought once. It is daunting company for someone still looking to establish themselves at that level, but Richards, who describes himself as a ‘banana skin for any champion’ has no doubts over his ability to join them at the top.

“You see me, I’ve never said no to a fight as long as it makes sense for my career moving forward, I don’t like looking back. Fringe world contenders, people who have been there and got that experience, are on my list. And I want to fight names that the public know. That's the route I want to go down.”

“I’ll just be Lerrone Richards. I’m very relaxed and I believe 100 per cent in my ability. And the better the opponent, the better I box. I have proven that in the past.

“I will give any super-middleweight in the world hell. It’s only a matter of time before I start showcasing that.”

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