WBA light welterweight champion Gary Antuanne Russell expressed disappointment today that IBF champ Richardson Hitchins has shown no interest in fighting him in a unification after beating veteran George Kambosos Jr. last Saturday night. Russell pointed out that he’d beaten Hitchins four times in the amateurs and holds a title in his weight class, yet he was not showing any interest in fighting him.
Turki Alalshikh would be doing the sport a solid if he set up a fight between Antuanne Russell and Richardson Hitchins next. There would be some weeding out going on. We’d see what’s what, whether Hitchins is for real or a fake.
Hitchins: Business Over Legacy
The answer is obvious. Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) isn’t interested in legacy. His career is all about business, which is why he ignored his #1 mandatory opponent, Subriael Matias, and chose to fight Kambosos Jr. last Saturday. The Aussie came into the fight with a 2-3 record in his last five fights, and one of those wins was a very questionable decision over Maxi Hughes.
The selection of Kambosos showed that Hitchins is focused on making money fights, and he wants to make sure he doesn’t get beaten. Russell would be all wrong for Hitchin. He can punch, be rugged, and would overwhelm Hitchins with his power.
Hitchins mentioned wanting to fight welterweight contender Devin Haney and WBO champion Teofimo Lopez, but not Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) last Saturday night after knocking out the overmatched, old-looking Kambosos in the eighth round in a non-competitive fight at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
How can a guy lose to me 4x in the amateurs we both have belts in the same division and yet you don’t even want to fight me.Boxing is getting soft for real.I’ll fight anyone as long as it makes sense money or legacy
— Gary Antuanne Russell (@GaryAntuanne) June 16, 2025
Boxing’s New Money Focus
Hitchins is the new kind of fighters in the sport now. They don’t focus on fighting the best. They just go after sure-thing fights or look to cash out against fighters that have already arrived.
Promoter Eddie Hearn helped Hitchins into this spot by lining him up with the soft touch Kambosos. The thanks he gets is Hitchins announcing his contract is up with Matchroom last Saturday, and he’s now a promotional free agent. He’s hoping for greener pastures with somebody. It won’t be Turki Alalshikh, though.
“When Hitchins stopped him, it was off pure pain. He was hurting. He hit him with that first bodyshot, and his face changed. The whole fight changed from there,” said coach Greg Hackett to TBISE about Ricyardson Hitchins’ win over veteran George Kambosos last Saturday.
As big as Hitchins looked inside the ring last Saturday, it’s not surprising that he was hurting the much smaller Kambosos. It looked like a fight between a welterweight and a small lightweight. Hitchins can somehow still make weight for the 140-lb division. But he should be fighting at 147. He doesn’t possess the power to fight at welterweight. So, it’s understandable why he’s killing himself to stay at light welterweight for as long as possible.
Hitchins’ Size at 140
“Hitchins was already in the lead, but you could see at that point that he was ready to do damage,” said Hackett. “With his size [at 140], you can do that to guys. He’s 5’10 1/2″ fighting at 140. He’s one of the giants at 140. That’s the type of punishment he can be putting on guys if he believes in himself.”
Hitchins can overwhelm lesser fighters like Kambosos, but his chances of doing that against the elite at 140 are slim. Put him in against Russell, Matias, Keyshawn Davis, and Ernesto Mercado, and he would likely be exposed. That might be the reason why he’s not shown an eagerness to fight any of them. He looked good against Kambosos, but almost anyone would. Kambosos’ last opponent, a little-known Australian domestic-level fighter, Jake Wylie, gave him fits.
“I think that fight is a great fight,” said Greg about a fight between Hitchins and Devin Haney. “Neither one of them is known as a big puncher. They’re both boxers. They both got good height and long arms, but the mentality of the two being thinkers. That night, they’ll be fighters. It’s going to get to the point where they’ll realize, ‘I can’t outthink him right now.”
Last Updated on 06/16/2025
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