Duarte isn’t afraid to take shots to deliver his own, and that means Hitchins is going to have to be willing to take some punishment in return because he won’t be given the same respect that he got from the faded ex-lightweight champion Kambosos Jr.
“I’m ready physically, and I’m ready for my title,” said Oscar Duarte during today’s final press conference, talking about his fight with Richardson Hitchins on Saturday.
Duarte is coming off back-to-back wins over Kenneth Sims Jr. and Miguel Madueno. Those were punishing fights for the 30-year-old Mexican native Duarte, but he showed that he’s improved a lot since his knockout loss to Ryan Garcia in 2023.
“This guy has been spoonfed his entire career. He damn near lost his last fight (Kenneth Sims Jr.),” said Hitchins, talking about Duarte. “When he gets in front of me on Saturday night, I’m going to show that there are levels to this.”
Hitchins is projecting with his comments about Duarte having been “spoonfed” his entire career, but he’s been in the same boat. Neither of them has fought any of the cutting-edge 140-pounders. The 28-year-old Brooklyn, New York native Richardson has been called out by top fighters at light welterweight, like Gary Antuanne Russell, Ernesto Mercado, and Keyshawn Davis, but he’s not stepped up to fight any of them.
“Him coming at me like a train, he’s going to get knocked out. I keep telling him that. If anyone wants to bet, I promise you, I will knock this kid out if he comes at me like a train,” said Hitchins.
We’ll see if Hitchins can handle the pressure that he’s going to be put under by Duarte, because he did not perform well in his battle against a similar fighter, Gustavo Lemos, in April 2024, winning a narrow 12-round unanimous decision that he could have lost.
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