Hitchins earns 140 title shot in 'coming of age' fight vs. Lemos
Undefeated junior welterweight contenders battle the distance in close, action-packed bout
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In the lead up, junior welterweight contender Richardson Hitchins had an awful lot to say about Gustavo Lemos and how he expected their IBF final elimination bout to go.
“I expect Saturday night to be a whitewash, and for me to show that I’m on a whole different level,” Hitchins said.
Another gem from the brash Brooklyn, New York, boxer: “I’m going to step on him.”
And then there was this one directed at Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who was paying him: “This is free money.”
As it turned out, Hitchins was way, way off in his assessment.
He got by far the toughest fight of his life as he took many big shots and eked out a grueling decision win over the tremendously aggressive Lemos in the Matchroom Boxing main event on DAZN at BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
Hitchins won the exciting fight 115-113 on two scorecards and an eyebrow-raising 117-111 on the third to earn a mandatory shot at the winner of the fight between 140-pound titlist Subriel Matias and Liam Paro, who meet June 15 in Matias’ hometown of Manati, Puerto Rico. Fight Freaks Unite scored the fight 114-114.
“I felt like I won the fight unanimously. It was a close fight.” Hitchins said. “I made it close some rounds. I gave him right hands and I stood there and traded with him because my corner kept telling me the fight is close. But I felt like was outboxing him and landing the cleaner shots and boxing smart. But he was tough, undefeated, in his prime and he came over here to win.
“He came in shape. He came to my country to win. I felt like I won, but you know he’s in my country and they’re gonna try to say he got robbed or something but it’s cool. I felt like I won easily. It was a good fight though.”
Lemos, disgusted by the scores, left the ring quickly in tears.
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