“I’m going to be bringing back boxing for years to come, and I’m going to be one of the guys to hold down New York City like no one’s ever seen before.”
Brooklyn’s Richardson Hitchins talked the talk when he spoke to the AmNews in late May before making the first title defense of his IBF junior welterweight championship. On Saturday, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, the 27-year-old pugilist of Haitian descent walked the walk.
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In a surgical performance that he commanded from beginning to end, Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) used his jab from the start and his power at the end to win the first seven rounds before stopping Australian George Kambosos Jr. (22-4, 10 KOs) in the eighth round with a left hook to the body.
“I’ve been telling the boxing world that I’m the truth,” Hitchins said after the win. ”If you don’t know Richardson Hitchins, now you know. I’ve been telling the boxing world I’ve been coming. They should have listened, and now I’m here.”
His opponent knew about this prowess by the end of the evening. Hitchins landed 205 of his 398 punches thrown, an astonishing 51.5%, while Kambosos Jr. landed a paltry 57 of 384 attempts (14.8%).
The business of boxing will take over Hitchins’ career in the immediate future, as he is a promotional free agent. WBO junior welterweight champ Teofimo Lopez Jr. was at the fight and is a potential opponent, as is WBA junior welterweight titleholder Gary Antuanne Russell, and WBC junior welterweight champion Alberto Puello.
Though he has lost four of his last five fights, including three brutal knockouts, former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) is stepping back into the ring to face relatively unknown Tyrrell Herndon (24-5, 15 KOs) on June 27. Wilder should seriously consider retirement. If those in his inner circle, both personally and professionally, are not telling him that, they are doing him a disservice that may have a detrimental impact on his health in the future.
Three weeks from tomorrow, an all-women’s boxing card will take place at Madison Square Garden and worldwide on Netflix, highlighted by the third matchup between International boxing star and undisputed women’s super lightweight champion Katie Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) who will battle Brooklyn’s unified featherweight world champion Amanda Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs).
The following night at Louis Armstrong Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, Brooklyn’s Edgar Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) will battle Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) and Newark’s Shakur Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) will defend his WBC lightweight belt against William Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs).