Richardson Hitchins predicted a “massacre” and he delivered.
George Kambosos had shocked the world before at Madison Square Garden but on Sunday afternoon, Hitchins proved too much as the American retained his IBF junior welterweight title with an eighth-round TKO win.
Hitchins consistently worked behind his jab for the entire fight, with Sergio Mora declaring in commentary that he turned the Australian into “target practice”.
The champion landed a total of 205 total punches compared to just 57 from Kambosos, while he also outpointed the Australian 118-34 in jabs and 87-23 in power punches. The American could have kept doing what he was doing and settled for the unanimous decision win, but instead he smelled blood in the water after landing a body shot that hurt Kambosos in the fifth and then finished it with another brutal left hook to the body in the eighth.
Kambosos was back in the world title frame after defeating Queenslander Jake Wyllie, while he also had a win – albeit in controversial circumstances – over Maxi Hughes on his resume.
But having lost three of his last five fights since stunning Teofimo Lopez to become a world champion in 2021, his latest defeat at the hands of Hitchins casts doubt over what comes next for the Australian.
