George Kambosos Jr. says he’s “fully focused” on getting the job done on IBF light welterweight champion Richardson Hitchins this Saturday, June 14th, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Kambosos (22-3, 10 KOs) faces Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) this Saturday on DAZN. The event begins at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT.
Kambosos Calls Hitchins “Nervous”
“I’ve been at this high level many times. So, it’s nothing new for me. He looked very edgy. He looked shaken, moving around. It’s a lot of nervous energy,” said George Kambosos Jr. to Brian Campbell’s YouTube channel, talking about Richardson Hitchins.
Richardson seems naturally high-strung and gets worked up around any of his opponents. He’s a nervous individual and will always be that way. He reacts that way when he’s put under pressure in fights, and tends to run. He struggled early against Liam Paro and might have lost if the Aussie had been wise enough to keep pressuring him.
“I’m very relaxed, very composed. I enjoyed it. We did have a nice face-off outside the arena. I was trying to tell all the New Yorkers walking past, ‘It’s Hitchins, your champion.‘ But no one really paid attention. I was getting noticed, and a few people said, ‘It’s Kambosos.'”
It’s not surprising that New Yorkers can’t recognize Hitchins, because he’s not been involved in any big fights during his career. He’s young, and his safety-first fighting style has made him one of the avoided fighters. That’s not going to change until Richardson ages and slows down. He’ll always be avoided.
Hitchins’ Biggest Career Payday
“He always has a lot to say. It doesn’t make sense. He’s got to attack people and call them certain names, but that’s just him as a person. Of course, I’m his highest payday, I’m his biggest name,” said Kambosos about Hitchins. “Yeah, he can disrespect me. He can overlook me. He can worry about all these other guys. I’ve seen that in the past. I’ve seen that before.”
Of course, Kambosos is the biggest payday for Hitchins because he’s not fought popular fighters. His last opponent, IBF 140-lb champion Liam Paro, was just a belt-holder, who wasn’t notable enough for him to get a big purse fighting him. Hitchins has got to beat Kambosos, and look great in doing so, for him to get the attention of Turki Alalshikh. That’s his only chance to get a big payday. None of the popular fighters are going to want to fight him.
The fighters Richardson wants
- Teofimo Lopez
- Devin Haney
- Ryan Garcia
- Manny Pacquiao
- Mario Barrios
“I’m fully focused on Hitchins coming to that ring June 14th, going to a place where I’ve been before as the underdog. I’m zoned in. I’ve been away from my luxuries in Sydney. I’m mentally, physically, and spiritually ready and been in that warfare of training camp,” said Kambosos.
The ‘Emperor’ Kambosos needs to bring out the 2021 version of himself for him to have a shot at beating Hitchins on Saturday night. What we’ve seen of George in his last five fights since 2022 is not going to be good enough.
Kambosos’ Last Five Fights:
– Jake Wyllie: W
– Vasily Lomachenko: L
– Maxi Hughes: W [questionable]
– Devin Haney: L
– Devin Haney: L
