Hitchins vs Kambosos: First fight week faceoff at Empire State Building in New York

Kicking off Fight Week, Richardson Hitchins and George Kambosos Jr went face-to-face at the Empire State Building in New York. The two fighters approach their world championship bout, taking place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on June 14.

Making his second ring appearance at MSG, Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) of Brooklyn, NY brings his IBF super lightweight belt to the ring. The unbeaten 27-year-old landed the title last December, dethroning Liam Paro by split decision. In his first fight at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” in February 2023, Hitchins defeated John Bauza by unanimous decision.

“He has experience, I have my skill set and my mentality,” Richardson Hitchins said on Tuesday. “People say ‘Hitchins runs’, I don’t gotta run. It’s smart boxing, always sharp, so don’t make any mistakes. It might not be his hardest fight, but it’s going to be difficult for him.”

“He keeps trying to make the narrative like ‘this is his big homecoming, he’s got to show out, he’s got to do this’ – it doesn’t matter how we slice and dice it; He’s been down to a body shot, been schooled and bruised up. I’ve never shown nothing like that. I’ve never been down to a body shot, I fought an Argentinian who had 11 straight KOs.”

“What does he do so good that he thinks I’ve never seen? Is it the power, the activity, the pressure, the speed, the twitch? You don’t know what I do best, I’m different. I’m just going to show him levels. You will feel me, it’s something different, when I hit you, you are going to feel it. You can’t outfight me. We can stand in the middle of the ring, you can’t outfight me. I promise you everything I love, we stand in the middle of the ring and bang, you can’t outfight me.”

‘He won’t dominate this time’

Former unified lightweight champion Kambosos Jr (22-3, 10 KOs) looks to claim a title in his second division. The 31-year-old steps through the ropes at MSG for the third time in his career – the venue where he unified the 135-pound belts, defeating Teofimo Lopez by split decision in November 2021, and taking a split decision over Mickey Bey in a non-title bout in late 2019.

“He’s going to run,” said George Kambosos Jr. “It’s his homecoming in front of 6,000 – make it special.”

“Whatever way he brings it and whatever he wants to show his fans, it’s cool. I’ve prepared well for whatever he might bring.”

“New York is a beautiful place for me, a beautiful city. I’m 2-0 there, ready to be 3-0. I built my legacy here, beaten champion after champion here and I am coming again, number three, taking his belt. Yes, I’m an underdog, but I’ve got a huge fan base, and I love it here, I walk in and I smile.”

“He’s motivated the shit out of me. After all I’ve done, all the belts I’ve won and the money I’ve made, people ask me ‘why are you still doing this? You’ve done it all, go and enjoy your life, your family, your kids’. I’ve done it all. The money I’ve made, he wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

“I’ve fought champion after champion, pound-for-pound fighters, hall of famers. Forget the zero in boxing, I’ve been saying it constantly, it doesn’t matter any more in boxing. People said to me, ‘you’ve got the belts, take an easy fight, a tune-up, pick who you want’. But I went straight into the fire. I think he’s a good fighter, but he’s not them. From the fights I’ve seen, I just don’t see it. He won’t dominate this time.”

In the co-feature, Andy Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs) of Cuba and Japan’s Hironori Mishiro (17-1-1, 6 KOs) square off in an IBF lightweight title eliminator. The winner is expected to become mandatory contender to challenge Raymond Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) of West Covina, CA, who was recently elevated to full champion, following the retirement of Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko (18-3, 12 KOs).

The scheduled Hitchins vs Kambosos undercard bouts featuring Ernesto Mercado (17-0, 16 KOs) of Upland, CA up against NOLA’s Jonathan Montrel (19-3, 13 KOs), and Canada’s Alexis Barriere (12-0, 10 KOs) versus Cleveland’s Roney Hines (14-0-1, 8 KOs) have been canceled. The matchups fell through after Mercado and Barriere suffered injuries and were forced to withdraw.