Rant: I think Hitchins is undervalued with his skill as a boxer, and Kambosos is undervalued for what he brings to the ring despite being through a few wars and undersized at junior welterweight. (Audio above)
Richardson Hitchins TKO8 George Kambosos Jr
IBF junior welterweight champ Hitchins is something special. On this night, not many could have beaten him. Hitchins showed a great use of distance and slowly broke down Kambosos before going to the mid-range and closing the show. I wouldn’t be shocked if he is a major player in the sport for years to come.
Undercard:
Andy Cruz TKO5 Hironori Mishiro
Cruz is better than I could have thought as a pro. He was the best amateur in the world for years. He won a gold medal in 2020. Against Mishiro, he dropped him twice in the third round and stopped him in the fifth. Cruz is a nightmare when he finds his rhythm, and now he is the mandatory challenger for IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla.
Assorted undercard thoughts: Teremoana Jnr, the heavyweight who reminds me of George Foreman, knocked out Aleem Whitfield in one round. Not much to learn from this other than Teremoana is good, Whitfield was too small and not skilled enough for the challenge. Junior middleweight Nishant Dev won a six-round unanimous decision over Josue Silva. He won 60-54 on all three cards and got good professional experience. Junior lightweight Zaquin Moses got a fourth-round technical knockout of Carl Rogers.
Other notable bouts:
Former titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada made his bantamweight debut, winning a 10-round unanimous decision over Karim Arce.
On Friday, OTX Boxing was headlined by junior bantamweight LeAnna Cruz getting off the floor to beat Regina Chavez. Close fight, but the right person won. Cruz might have hurt her knee in the fight, and could see a delay in the ring from it.
In the co-feature, junior welterweight Israel Mercado won a majority decision over local Philly fighter Branden Pizarro. Junior welterweight Kurt Scoby stopped Haskell Rhodes in six rounds then called out Giovanni Marquez after the fight.
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