Richardson Hitchins is confident of dethroning IBF light welterweight champion Liam Paro in their 12-rounder at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday night.
Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) got fired up during the bout and pummeled Challenger Hitchins during the final press conference Thursday. Hitchins paid back the Aussie, Paro, pounding him hard and looking like he was ready to throw. You could see the worry in Paro’s face during that exchange. He looked scared.
It’s understandable why Paro would be unnerved, as this is easily the best fighter he’s ever faced in his eight-year professional career. Paro wouldn’t even be here as the referee who worked his last fight against the IBF 140-lb champion Subriel Mathias did his job by penalizing him for his roughhouse tactics or their June 15 fight.
Paro is expected to resort to the same bag of tricks against Hitchins, hoping the referee isn’t on his JOB and takes points away from him for turning the bout into a WWE-type match.
The Eddie Hearn-promoted Hitchins is a better version of Shakur Stevensonone with strength, aggression and courage. Hitchins is an improved version of Shakur, and that kind of fighter is a nightmare for Paro or any simple come forward type fighter.
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“All he’s going to do is come forward. He’s got boxing skills, but he’s going to come forward,” Richardson Hitchins told Fighthype, speaking about Liam Paro after their face-off at the final press conference on Thursday.
“The last guy I fought was super predictable. This guy (Paro) has boxing ability. He can think in there with me and make adjustments. That’s how he beats most guys. I’m always looking for an explanation,” Hitchins said.
“The guy is confident. He beat Matias. I’m victorious,” Richardson said when asked how he sees his fight with IBF light welterweight champion Paro going this Saturday night. “He may be better than me in hockey, but he is not better than me in boxing.”
Eddie Hearn promotes both of these guys, but with the glowing way he’s talked about Paro in interviews this week, he seems to be favoring him over Hitchins. If Paro wins, Hearn can match him against George Kambosos Jr. in a stadium fight in Australia, and that will fill it. The pay-per-view numbers from the Aussie market will be huge.
There is a lot of cash to be made in a Paro vs. Kambosos fight, which wouldn’t be there if Hitchins was the one facing Kambosos. As we saw with the two times Devin Haney schooled Kambosos, he can’t handle talented boxers. Hitchins would be pure kryptonite for Kambosos, and he would be the whole purpose of Hearn signing the small ’emperor’ to his Matchroom stable.
