Richardson Hitchins has reportedly turned down a fight against 140-lb contender Jamaine Ortiz for the January 31, 2026, ‘The Ring 6’ event on DAZN.
Hitchins says no to Ortiz
Jamaine (20-2-1, 10 KOs) joins a growing list of top-level fighters who have turned down Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) for a fight. It’s no surprise that he doesn’t want to fight Ortiz because he’s a big talent who gave Teofimo Lopez and Vasily Lomachenko big problems in their fights.
Boxing insider, Dan, has the news on X of Hitchins turning down a fight against Jamaine Ortiz. It’s a disappointment. This would be an excellent addition to the Teofimo Lopez vs. Shakur Stevenson event on DAZN at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
List of exclamations keeps growing
- Jamaine Ortiz
- Keyshawn Davis
- Ernesto ‘Tito’ Mercado
- Gary Antoine Russell
- Subriel Mathias
Is Hitchins waiting for a payday?
It is unclear who Hitchins is waiting for. That he turned down five fights that would have boosted his popularity suggests he hopes a big-name fighter will fall into his lap. We’ll see if the tooth fairy lands him a popular mega-million payday fight he’s probably hoping for.
Hitchins hasn’t fought since defeating George Kambosos Jr. knocked out in the eighth round on 14 June 2025. It was the one in which Richardson blindsided his promoter, Eddie Hearn, and announced inside the ring that he was a free promotional agent.
Turki hope that never came
In announcing the ring after his victory, Hitchins may have expected a storm of promoters to scoop him up, or that Turki Alalshikh would be interested. It didn’t work out that way.
Jamaine is like a better version of Shakur. Add in power, hand speed, combo punching and excellent mobility and you get Ortiz. He is a more advanced fighter than Stevenson in my book. The difference is that he doesn’t post on X incessantly, and he’s been more willing to take risky fights than Shakur. Ortiz isn’t looking for fights against guys like Josh Padley.
Last updated on 12/08/2025
