Richardson Hitchins will reportedly fight former two-division world champion Jose Pedraza on former IBF 140-lb champion Surbriel Matias’ undercard on December 7th.
A step backwards for Hitchins?
It’s a big step backwards for Matchroom Boxing-promoted Hitchins, 26, to fight Pedraza, as he should be fighting opponents at 140 rather than faded fighters.
Hitchins is coming off a controversial 12-round unanimous decision win over Gustavo Lemos on April 6 in Las Vegas, which many fans saw as a loss for Brooklyn, New York native Richardson.
The scores were 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 in favor of Hitchins. I watched the fight live and Lemos won 9-3 (117-111). It was not a close fight. Lemos outboxed and outworked Hitchins in that fight, putting him on the run for the entire 12-round contest.
The Forgotten Man?
Hitchins has an identical style to Shakur Stevenson, but with a little more pop in his punches. Oddly enough, Hearn chose to sign Shakur to his Matchroom company since he didn’t talk much about Hitchins during interviews. It’s almost like he’s the forgotten man in Hearn’s stable.
In a way, it makes sense that Hitchins is matched against Pedraza rather than a contender. If Hearn feels that Hitchins’ performance against Lemos doesn’t measure up to where he needs to be, it makes sense to put him in against Pedraza.
In Hitchins’ previous fight against Jose Zepeda, on September 23 last year, fans booed him for fighting cautiously in Orlando, Florida.
Hitchins won the contest by a 12-round unanimous decision, but used his Shakur-esque fighting style to retreat when attacked. The fans at ringside didn’t like what they were seeing, and they let Hitchins and his trainer know about it.
Hitchins must impress
If Hitchins doesn’t start fighting with more inspiration, Hearn may have to consider not renewing his contract when it expires. Hearn doesn’t need two Shakur-esque fighters because it’s bad enough to have one he needs to prop up.
Pedraza hasn’t won a fight in three years since 2021 and is coming off a sixth-round knockout loss to Keyshawn Davis on Feb. 8 in Las Vegas.
According to @cesarseda, #3 WBO and #5 WBC ranked Hitchins (18-0, 7 KOs) will next face the 35-year-old Pedraza (29-6-1, 14 KOs).
Pedraza hasn’t looked like the same fighter he once was since losing to Vasily Lomachenko and Jose Pedraza in 2018 and 2019. Those fights seem to have taken something out of Pedraza, as his record since 2020 is 3-3-1.
