Subriel Matias congratulated Richardson Hitchins on his victory over IBF light welterweight champion Liam Paro on Saturday night and let him know he would see him soon. Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) dethroned Paro (25-1, 15 KOs) and won a 12-round split decision at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom)
If the fight takes place, it will be a difficult style for Hitchins as Matias will not be afraid to push like Paro was. He will walk Richardson down like Gustavo Lemos did, but land harder shots.
Matias (22-2, 21 KOs) reckons Hitchins will choose to defend his newly won IBF belt against him, which could happen if he doesn’t get a bite from any of the big names his promoter Eddie Hearn has said he doesn’t want to try. to match him against next. These are the four Hearn rattled off that he wants for Hitchins:
- Teofimo Lopez
- Devin Haney
- Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela
- Jack Catterall
If Hearn can’t get any of those four to agree to face Hitchins, Matias will likely be the guy he faces next. He is number 5 IBF, below Jack Catterall and Arnold Barboza Jr. Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) was beaten by a 12-round unanimous decision last summer on June 15.
“see you soon”
Richardson Hitchins would move up to 147 if this fight was ever ordered. #Box pic.twitter.com/8XMqyoorqh
— Zain (@ZainBoxing) December 8, 2024
Hearn didn’t mention former IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias as a possible next opponent for Hitchins, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try to make this fight next. The four guys that Hearn did mention aren’t going to be excited to fight him because his style is bad for every one of them.
“When I got into the ring afterwards, some of Liam’s team came up to me and said, ‘Do you think we might have got a draw from the last one?’ Honestly, no. I got it 8-4. 7-5 if you want to be really generous, but no,” said Eddie Hearn iFL TVtalking about Richardson Hitchins’ win over Liam Paro last Saturday night.
“When he read it 117-111, I thought: ‘Don’t tell me someone is giving it to Liam Paro.’ 117-111, you score it 9-3 for Liam Paro. It’s incredible. I told Liam the problem for him was between five and ten, probably eleven, they were all clear Richardson Hitchins rounds.
“Those laps, he basically guaranteed six laps there. Maybe you should give him 12. Maybe it went for Liam, but for me it was 8-4 or 7-5. The right man won. It was a hell of a show.
It’s a good thing Hitchins wasn’t robbed last Saturday night, because that would have spoiled the evening. The judge scored it 117-111 for Paro, who should have focused on the little things he was doing and ignored all the clean right hands Hitchins was hitting him with from round five.
Next up?
“He’s fighting Teofimo Lopez for Brooklyn. This is a unification battle. The build up would be epic. It’s a great fight,” Hearn said when asked who Hitchins fights next. That’s what he does next because I think a fighter of Richardson’s quality should fight those guys. (Jose ‘Rayo’) Valenzuela. Obviously we have (Jack) Catterall. He (Teofimo) is talking about moving to 147. Unite before you go,” Hearn said.
Hearn could get one of those guys to agree to fight Hitchins, but that’s probably going to require His Excellency to pick Turki Alalshikh to headline the fight in Riyadh. Hitchins doesn’t have the popularity to attract the names he and Hearn would like him to fight. It would require these fighters to be paid well to agree to fight Hitchins due to the likelihood of them losing.
