Brian Norman Sr. responded to Richardson Hitchins’ divisive comments in an interview today, revealing that his recollection of what happened in that session with Norman Jr. happened, was not what he made it seem.
Hitchins said it was “easy work” to work with Norman Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) to spare. According to Norman Sr., it was “mediocrity” on his part. He says it’s interesting that he’s pushing to fight the winner of WBO welterweight champion Norman Jr’s fight against Devin Haney on November 22 when he has guys in his own weight class at 140, like WBA champion Gary Antuanne Russell, calling him out.
“The sparring, he wasn’t on my level … As far as boxing skills, it wasn’t a puzzle for me. It wasn’t anything to figure out,” Hitchins told the 10-8 podcast this week about Norman Jr. which was not at his level.
“A Bunch of Mediocrity”
“These bums come five years later. What mediocrity were you excited about? You never heard that from anybody because it was a bunch of mediocrity,” Brian Norman Sr. said. 10-8 Podcastresponding to Richardson Hitchins claiming he had Brian Norman Jr. dominated in sparring.”
Interestingly, Norman Sr. reveals that the sparring between Brian Norman Jr. and Hitchins took place five years ago, not recently. As Hitchins spoke this week, he made it sound like it was recently. If it was five years ago, it was a lifetime ago. Norman Jr. was only 19 and sparring with a 23-year-old. Why didn’t Hitchins mention how long ago the sparring session took place when he bragged about dominating Norman Jr?
“I’m talking about significant things. It wasn’t a significant spat at all, and if it was significant, you would have heard about it before now. Why is he talking about Devin Haney and Brian Norman when he has people in his division actively calling him out?” did Norman Sr.
Hitchins’ comfortable silence
That interview by Hitchins made him look good as he discussed how he likes Brian Norman Jr. have dominated the past five years. It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t true. Enough fans believed it actually happened for them to consider Hitchins a viable opponent to beat the winner of the November 22nd fight between Norman Jr. vs. to dare Haney.
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The Amateur Albatross
Three possible reasons why Hitchins is not calling out WBA light welterweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell:
- Hitchins lost to him 4 times in the amateurs
- Not a big enough name
- Focused on payday fights
Losing four consecutive times to Gary Antuanne Russell in the amateurs is reason enough for Hitchins to stay away from him permanently. When you lose to a fighter so many times, it indicates that he is just too good for you.
It would be admirable for Richardson to show some backbone and fight Russell, but it would mess up his pursuit of the millions he’s chasing against Brian Norman Jr., Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez.
The Shakur Blueprint
As long as Hitchins continues to fight the lower level fighters he has faced, he will remain undefeated long enough to get a big payday. He would follow the Shakur Stevenson blueprint. Facing the Josh Padleys of the world, giving lots of trash talking interviews and posting regularly on X.
Eventually, a big fight out of your pay grade will fall into your lap without having to earn it with risky fights. It worked for Shakur.
Last updated on 11/06/2025
