Craig Richards waited nearly two years to return to the ring and even longer to have his hand raised in victory.
The dual drought came to an end on Saturday, when the former title challenger forced a seventh-round stoppage of a determined Boris Crighton. Richards floored the visiting Scot, and an ensuing rally forced the stoppage at 2:52 of the seventh round of their light heavyweight bout Saturday on DAZN from Indigo at The O2 in London.
Richards had not fought since a hard-fought, unanimous decision defeat to unbeaten contender Joshua Buatsi in May 2022 on this very property. Their WBA light heavyweight title eliminator saw the Londoner fall just short at the top level for the second time in a span of just three fights. He previously dropped a competitive twelve-round, unanimous decision to WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11KOs) in May 2021.
