“We all know, and I know for a fact because I keep learning more and more stuff,” Garcia told YSM Sports Media. “He asked trainers: ‘How would you train a fighter to beat Duarte?’ He was afraid to fight Duarte. He was worried.”
Garcia then went on to say that any fighter who asks outside trainers for advice about an opponent is showing fear.
“If I find out that any of my fighters ask different trainers, ‘How do you beat someone like Duarte?’ my fighter is a bitch and he’s scared,” Garcia said.
Robert says Hitchins even contacted one of Duarte’s former opponents to ask how hard he punches.
“He goes and finds his opponent’s last opponent, ‘How hard does Duarte hit?’ Then you’re scared, man,” Garcia said.
The comments add to a rough week for Hitchins after O’Shaquie Foster also publicly questioned his toughness. Foster recently claimed Hitchins has a reputation in boxing circles for being scared and lacking heart, pointing to the canceled Duarte fight as proof.
Hitchins’ official explanation for pulling out of the February 21 fight was illness after the weigh-in. Reports at the time said he began vomiting shortly after making weight, forcing the cancellation just hours before the event in Las Vegas.
Robert openly disputed this explanation. He argued Hitchins appeared healthy at weigh-in and said a fighter suspected of throwing up all night would not have rehydrated the full 10 pounds allowed by the next day’s check-in weigh-in.
“He moved out because he was afraid of Duarte,” Garcia said. “The bottom line is he asked trainers, and he asked Duarte’s former opponents how tough Duarte is. When a fighter does that, it means you’re scared.”
