Richardson Hitchins and George Kambosos Jr clash in a fiery face-off in the sky
Richardson Hitchins and George Kambosos Jr clashed in a fiery face-off 1,250 feet high up at the iconic Empire State Building in the heart of the Big Apple, and the pair traded verbal blows in stormy conditions, a sign of things to come when the step through the ropes at MSG on Saturday night, live worldwide on DAZN.New Yorker Hitchins (19-0 7 KOs) defends his title for the first time after ripping the title from Kambosos Jr’s fellow Australian Liam Paro in Puerto Rico in December in a career-best performance, and the unbeaten champion now looks to show his fellow champions at 140lbs that he’s coming for their titles next by defeating Kambosos Jr.
Kambosos Jr. (22-3 10 KOs) returns to the scene of his greatest night as he looks to become a two-time and two-weight World ruler against Hitchins, stepping back through the ropes in the vaunted Manhattan venue where he became the king at 135lbs by stunning Teofimo Lopez in November 2021.
‘Ferocious’ returned Down Under where he twice met Devin Haney in Melbourne before welcoming Vasiliy Lomachenko to Perth, with a victory over Maxi Hughes in Oklahoma. The 31 year old claimed the 22nd win of his pro career in March against Jake Wyllie in Sydney and will look to become a two-time World ruler against Hitchins.
“He has experience, I have my skill set and my mentality,” said Hitchins. “People say ‘Hitchins’ runs’, I don’t gotta run. It’s smart boxing, always sharp, so don’t make any mistakes. It might not be his hardest fight but it’s going to be difficult for him.
“He keeps trying to make the narrative like ’this is his big homecoming, he’s got to show out, he’s got to do this’ – it doesn’t matter how we slice and dice it; he has been down to a body shot, been schooled and bruised up. I’ve never shown nothing like that. I’ve never been down to a body shot, I fought an Argentinian who had 11 straight KOs.
“What does he do so good that he thinks I’ve never seen? Is it the power, the activity, the pressure, the speed, the twitch? You don’t know what I do best, I’m different. I’m just going to show him levels. You will feel me, it’s something different, when I hit you, you are going to feel it. You can’t outfight me. We can stand in the middle of the ring, you can’t outfight me. I promise you everything I love, we stand in the middle of the ring and bang, you can’t outfight me.”
“He’s going to run,” Kambosos instantly predicted of Hitchins. “It’s his homecoming in front of 6,000 – make it special.
“Whatever way he brings it and whatever he wants to show his fans, it’s cool. I’ve prepared well for whatever he might bring.
“New York is a beautiful place for me, a beautiful city. I’m 2-0 there, ready to be 3-0. I built my legacy here, beaten champion after champion here and I am coming again, number three, taking his belt. Yes, I’m an underdog, but I’ve got a huge fan base, and I love it here, I walk in and I smile.
“He’s motivated the shit out of me. After all I’ve done, all the belts I’ve won and the money I’ve made, people ask me ‘why are you still doing this? You’ve done it all, go and enjoy your life, your family, your kids’. I’ve done it all. The money I’ve made, he wouldn’t know what to do with it.
“I’ve fought champion after champion, pound-for-pound fighters, hall of famers. Forget the zero in boxing, I’ve been saying it constantly, it doesn’t matter any more in boxing. People said to me, ‘you’ve got the belts, take an easy fight, a tune-up, pick who you want’. But I went straight into the fire. I think he’s a good fighter, but he’s not them. From the fights I’ve seen, I just don’t see it. He won’t dominate this time.”
Hitchins and Kambosos Jr clash on a huge night of action in New York, with the chief support bout seeing Lightweight star Andy Cruz looking to take a massive step towards World title action as he takes on Hironori Mishiro in an eliminator for the IBF World Lightweight title.
Australian Heavyweight beast Teremoana Teremoana is back in action and looking to keep his 100 per cent KO record going against New York’s Aleem Whitfield over six rounds, Zaquin Moses steps through the ropes for the fourth time in the paid ranks again over six rounds at Super-Featherweight against Carl Rogers, popular New Yorker ‘Pretty Boy’ Pablo Valdez moves into double figures over eight rounds at Welterweight against Cesar Diaz, Indian Olympian star Nishant Dev showed his huge potential in the paid ranks with a first round KO win on debut in Las Vegas in January and takes on Josue Silva over six rounds at Super-Welterweight and the action is kicked off live on DAZN by the professional debut of British teenage talent Adam Maca, who makes his bow over four rounds at Bantamweight against Rafael Castillo.
Ernesto ‘Tito’ Mercado and Alexis Barriere have both suffered injuries and their respective bouts have been cancelled.