“Everybody knows Duarte had no reason for me to pull out. That high volume wasn’t enough. I was going to put shots on him all night.”
He also claimed he would have left visible damage if the fight had taken place.
“Everyone was told that I would (explicitly) let Duarte stand.”
Fans on X see it differently, saying former IBF light welterweight champion Hitchins had his chance to fight Duarte last February, but pulled out on the day of the fight with an illness excuse. In a classic fight-type context, fans feel Hitchins saw the heavy artillery Duarte brings and decided the infirmary was a safer place to be.
Stripping on the day of the fight is the ultimate cardinal sin for a fighter’s reputation. This creates a narrative of cold feet that is incredibly difficult to shake, regardless of medical reality.
The timing of his posts feels like a defensive PR move by Richardson. By saying he would have “killed” Duarte, he tries to rewrite the history of that night from a medical withdrawal to a missed opportunity for a vent. The fans aren’t buying it because they have a very fresh memory of the Gustavo Lemos fight.
When a fighter faces a high-pressure, dangerous opponent like Duarte, and the fight fizzles out at the eleventh hour, the “lost nerve” label sticks.
“This hole that Duarte is getting is because my (expletive) was in his mouth. I don’t want to hear any excuses about weight,” Hitchins said. “I would have killed this guy and you know it.”
