Undefeated light welterweight contender Richardson Hitchins (17-0, 7 KOs) boxed his way to a 12 round unanimous decision over the gunshy and slow Jose Zepeda (37-4, 28 KOs) on Saturday night at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.
The 25-year-old Hitchins threw mostly jabs and single right hands to win an easy 12 round decision 34-year-old Zepeda.
Zepeda was cut on the top of his head from a clash of heads and later cut on his forehead from an elbow from Hitchins.
The judges scores were 120-108, 120-108, and 119-109.
It wasn’t thrilling to watch, as the movement, holding & safety-first style of Hitchins made it dull for the fans, some of whom were booing.
Hitchins’ corner kept imploring him between rounds to step it up and be more offensive-minded, but he failed to follow their instructions.
Live results & updates will be shown below.
– Fighting at junior middleweight, Conor Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) beat Rodolfo Orozco (32-4-3, 24 KOs) by a hard-fought 10 round unanimous decision in the chief support bout. The judges scored it 99-91, 99-91, and 96-94.
Benn landed a lot of big shots in the fight, but the young 24-year-old, highly motivated Orozco just kept coming forward, throwing hard punches to the head & body.
Orozco, who is not a big puncher, missed frequently with his attempt to land shots upstairs, but he did well landing to the body of Benn.
In the second round, Orozco suffered a cut over his right eye from clsh of heads.
– IBF, WBA & WBC champ Jessica McCaskill (12-3-1, 5 KOs) and WBO female welterweight champion Sandy Ryan (6-1-1, 2 KOs) battled to a 10 round draw. The judges were 96-94 for Ryan, 97-93 for McCaskill, and 95-95.
McCaskill threw many slapping combination shots, whereas the taller, younger, more powerful Ryan connected on the harder, eye-catching punches in each. How the judges scored the fight depended on what they favored. Volume vs. power.
– Middleweight Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams (15-0, 10 KOs) had to dig deep tonight, being forced to battle hard to beat the powerful Steve Rolls (22-3, 12 KOs), winning a grueling 10 round unanimous decision in an entertaining back & forth fight.
Rolls took the fight to Williams, getting the better of him in a lot of the earlier rounds. In the second half of the contest, Ammo Williams’s better gas tank allowed him to take charge of the bout to cruise to victory. The scores were 97-93, 97-93 and 97-93.
Preview
Light welterweight Richardson Hitchins & Jose Zepeda go to war in a 50-50 toss-up fight tonight in the headliner in Orlando, Florida. The winner could fight for the WBC 140-lb title next year. Hitchins (16-0, 7 KOs) is the favorite, but Zepeda is the bigger puncher and more proven.
The Hitchins-Zepeda event has a start time of 8 p.m. ET on DAZN.
Conor Benn is making an appearance on the undercard against Rodolfo Orozco in a fight in the junior middleweight division.
There are a lot of boxing fans curious to see how Benn (21-0, 14 KOs) will look, as he tested positive a year ago for a banned substance, which he blames on ingesting eggs.
If Benn fails to look outstanding like he’d been looking before his positive test, fans will trash him.
“Food. No doubt,” said Conor Benn to Matchoom Boxing when asked what caused his positive test for a banned substance last year.
“You think I’ve employed the best scientists in the world on this, leading anti-doping specialists on this case specifically to find out what had happened and the articles in the times for everyone to see. It’s there.
‘Bearing in mind, there have been two other positive tests for this in boxing for clomiphene, and two other cyclists were all within a year. Bearing in mind no one’s ever heard of this before up until my case. It’s been coincidental.
“So it’s a horrible situation to have to go through, but I’m here now, and hopefully, we can change the law on clomiphene for testing in athletes because I wish no other athlete go through this what I’ve had to go through.
“They said I was contaminated within two weeks of the test, and it’s definitely come from eggs. The scientists can prove it’s from the embryos in the eggs, and I know it’s taboo that you shouldn’t be feeding the eggs with clomifene. It’s illegal.
“You’re not allowed to do it, but we do have eggs imported. Eggs are global. So the more athletes test positive for this, the more people will see that there actually is an issue with clomifene as
a whole.
“You say, ‘Well, is it strict liability? How can it be strict liability?’ If you’re eating a banana and it tastes like a banana. It’s a banana. It’s not like I’m not diligent or I always get, or I was reckless with anything I was taking. I’ve always been tested
“So this does need to change. It definitely needs to change, and there should be more duty of care for the athletes because not all athletes have the resources. It’s just the two-year ban.
“It’s a strict liability, but what what do you do? It’s not like I say eggs out of nothing. It’s scientifically proven,” said Benn.