Unlike the faded Kambosos, the Mexican native is perfectly willing to eat a shot to land his own. That means Hitchins will have to accept a level of punishment he has avoided for most of his career.
“I’m physically ready, and I’m ready for my title,” Oscar Duarte said during today’s final press conference about his fight with Richardson Hitchins on Saturday.
Duarte is coming off a streak of wins over Kenneth Sims Jr. and Miguel Madueno. It’s been tough fights for the 30-year-old Mexican native Duarte, but he’s shown much improvement since his knockout loss to Ryan Garcia in 2023.
“This guy has been spoon-fed his whole career. He damn near lost his last fight (Kenneth Sims Jr.),” Hitchins said of Duarte. “When he comes before me on Saturday night, I’m going to show that there are levels to this.”
Hitchins projects with his comments about Duarte being “spoon fed” his entire career, but he was in the same boat. Neither of them fought any of the top 140-pounders. The 28-year-old Brooklyn, New York native Richardson was called out by top light welterweight fighters such as Gary Antuanne Russell, Ernesto Mercado and Keyshawn Davis, but he did not commit to fighting any of them.
“If he comes at me like a train, he’s going to get knocked out. I keep telling him that. If anybody wants to bet, I promise you, I’ll knock this kid out if he comes at me like a train,” Hitchins said.
We will see if Hitchins can handle the pressure he will be put under by Duarte, as he did not fare well in his fight against a similar fighter, Gustavo Lemos, in April 2024, winning a close 12-round unanimous decision that he could have lost.
