Don’t Call Me A Runner, Demands Richardson Hitchins, Says He’ll Be “Right There, Punishing All Night” In Kambosos Fight
Reigning IBF 140 pound champ Richardson Hitchins doesn’t take kindly to being referred to as a “runner.” Recently, Saudi money man Turki Alalshikh said he will no long tolerate runners or boring fighters on his well-paying, stacked fight cards. Alalshikh, a boxing fan at heart, wants action, as do we paying fans.
And, going into tomorrow night’s fight (live on DAZN) against former lightweight champ George Kambosos Jr, Hitchins has had the runner tag hurled at him by his challenger. And Hitchins isn’t happy about it, nor does he agree with the runner label. And to prove it, Hitchins has vowed to be “right there in front of him (Kambosos), punishing all night.”
“I don’t ever run”—Hitchins fires back at Kambosos
“He keeps saying I’m running,” Hitchins said of Kambosos as quoted by The Ring. “I don’t ever run. Saturday night, I’ll be right in front of him all night long. [I’ll beat him in] Dominating fashion. I won’t be going nowhere. I’ll be right in front of him. Bill Haney wanna say, ‘Don’t run. He’ll get knocked the F**k out.’ I ain’t Devin Haney. I’ll be right there in front of him, all night, punishing this guy.”
If Hitchins, 19-0(7) is as good as his word and stands right there in the pocket and looks to punish Kambosos, we could get a great fight. Hitchins is the better boxer of the two, some would perhaps say by quite a considerable margin, but Kambosos, if he has to go into the trenches, can do so, as he is tough and is always in great physical condition. Kambosos, 22-3(10) would likely have a tough time getting to Hitchins if the defending champion got on his bike and looked to frustrate, outbox and embarrass him.
Could Kambosos exploit a phone-booth war?
But if – and it could be a big if, despite what he has said – Hitchins is “right there” looking to make a fight of it, Kambosos will have a chance of making it his kind of fight and winning. Again, if Hitchins is willing to stand and trade, to make it something approaching a phone-booth fight tomorrow, then we really could get a good one.
Hitchins remains the pick to win here, but Kambosos has a real shot if it does turn out to be his kind of battle.
All Weights
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Junior Welterweight (12 rounds): Richardson Hitchins – 140 lbs (63.5 kg) vs George Kambosos Jr – 139.4 lbs (63.2 kg)
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Lightweight (12 rounds): Andy Cruz – 135 lbs (61.2 kg) vs Hironori Mishiro – 134.6 lbs (61.0 kg)
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Heavyweight (6 rounds): Teremoana Teremoana – 265.6 lbs (120.5 kg) vs Aleem Whitfield – 246.2 lbs (111.7 kg)
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Junior Middleweight (8 rounds): Pablo Valdez – 152.4 lbs (69.1 kg) vs Opponent
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Junior Lightweight (6 rounds): Zaquin Moses – 129.2 lbs (58.6 kg) vs Carl Rogers – 129.6 lbs (58.8 kg)
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Junior Middleweight (6 rounds): Nishant Dev – 154.4 lbs (70.1 kg) vs Josue Silva – 155.2 lbs (70.4 kg)
