This Saturday night, streaming live on DAZN from MSG Theater in New York City, Richardson Hitchins faces George Kambosos. During fight week, there’s been a bunch of tough talk going back and forth between camps. Whether that’s tempers flaring and/or trying to sell more tickets, it sounds a bit silly talking about knowing real killers when these two are about to meet in the ring. Side note, rising boxer Andy Ruiz is in the co-feature taking on Hironori Mishiro, Ruiz’s first scheduled 12-rounder.
Tough talk and threats aside, it appears Richardson Hitchins’ last outing has given him extra pep in his step, so to speak. In a recent interview on Cigar Talk, he told the host Naji that Devin Haney is trash and isn’t on his level. This boxing podcaster must admit Hitchins had a great performance versus a solid opponent in Liam Paro.
The same Paro that was fresh off his big win over Subriel Matias. Beyond one of the judges named Nelson Vazquez, who scored it for Paro 117-111, most boxing folks thought Hitchins won the fight comfortably. Obviously, it was a different style matchup for Richardson than the fight before Liam Paro, when he fought Gustavo Lemos.
That result was closer, even though it reads a unanimous decision. A draw wouldn’t be out of the question; some in the boxing world believed Hitchins lost to Lemos. George Kambosos fights more like Paro than Lemos, so not that many comparisons can be drawn. In his last time out, George went 12 rounds with Jake Wyllie. Prior to that, one could make the argument that Kambosos hasn’t won a fight since 2021 when he shocked the world by defeating Teofimo Lopez. Yes, he did technically beat Max Hughes via majority decision, but this boxing junkie thought it was a toss-up favoring Maxi as the winner. To be completely fair, Kambosos took on Vasyl Lomachenko and Devin Haney twice, so he lost to high-level talent, to say the least.
Paro had success in the early rounds until Hitchins began to time Liam with his jab, followed by his right hands. Eventually, Hitchins ‘ left hooks and right hands were effective as he pushed Paro back in spots, along with subtle movement to keep Paro off balance. The reach advantage will be even greater for Hitchins this time around. Paro has a 71-inch reach, Hitchins has a 74-inch reach compared to 68 for Kambosos, according to BoxRec. George Kambosos will be stuck in the same boat he was with Loma and Haney, style-wise.
It’s a debate, no doubt, but Paro is just as good as Kambosos, and some would say he’s a notch up. Experience in the top echelons of the sport does matter, and that’s the only selling point for George to get his hand raised on Saturday night, barring an injury. The further we are removed from George’s upset of Teofimo Lopez, it feels even more fluky. Don’t want to cheapen the victory and take away too much from it, but you could clearly see Lopez wasn’t taking Kambosos seriously enough and fought way out of character. At the end of the night, Richardson Hitchins won’t make that same error and will beat George by a fairly wide margin.
My Official Prediction is Richardson Hitchins by Unanimous Decision.
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Written by Chris Carlson, Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker, I-Heart Radio, Amazon Podcasts, Google Podcasts & More! Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio