“I want the best guys in boxing. Give me Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia, any one of them guys,” said Richardson Hitchins after the fight. “They say I’m not like that. Come show me I’m not like that. 21-0, no draws, no stains on my record. Come get it if you want it.”
Salas brought little name recognition into the fight. His #11 ranking with the WBO at welterweight was his strongest credential, yet he had never beaten a recognizable contender in the division. He also looked lackluster against Hitchins, making the outcome easy to see well before the final bell. To get a fighter trying to earn bouts against boxing’s biggest stars, beating Salas accomplished very little.
Hitchins had originally been scheduled to face Oscar Duarte earlier this year before withdrawing from the fight. Rather than revisiting that matchup after signing with Zuffa, the promotion went in another direction.
With Dana White backing the company, plus Turki Alalshikh supplying the financial resources, money shouldn’t have been the obstacle to landing a better opponent. Brian Norman Jr., Ernesto Mercado, Gary Antuanne Russell, or Duarte would have carried far more credibility than Salas.
Hitchins deserves part of the blame as well. Fighters often have input on opponent selection, and if Salas was a matchup he approved, it was a poor career move. Calling out elite fighters is one thing. Building a case to fight them requires victories over opponents who elevate a contender’s standing. Salas wasn’t that type of opponent, leaving Hitchins with little to show beyond another win on his record.
Hitchins’ resume is too thin for him to put the kind of pressure on the fighters he wants to face in the sport. It’s unclear when he plans on changing that. Tonight would have been the perfect time, yet he failed to do so.
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