Against a fighter in Liam Paro with some of the best momentum in boxing, Brooklyn’s Richardson  Hitchins (19-0, 7 ko) found his range in the seventh round en route to a dominant decision victory to take the IBF jr. welterweight title, catapulting himself to the top of the division. Judge Nelson Vazquez, who scored the fight 117-111 for Paro, should never be allowed to score a high level boxing match again. 

Through the first 5, it seemed that Paro’s up and down rhythm and hand speed was bothering Hitchins. His corner even told him at the end of the fourth that he could be losing 4-0. But his urgency picked up in the 6th, and by the 7th he was controlling range with his jab and increasing the frequency on that sneaky sharp right hand, never setting for Paro to return fire. The gap would only widen down the stretch, though Paro to his credit found some success in the 12th, but it wouldn’t be enough.

This was in some was a very Mayweather like performance from Hitchins, a slow boil that found Paro (25-1, 15 ko), an adaptable, resiliant, and talented champion, completely lost in the sauce in the back half. Paro was arguably a top-3 jr welterweight, coming off consecutive wins over Montana Love and the divisions boogie man Subriel Matias, and Hitchins showed to be on another level, preventing Paro from making the adjustments he has always found a way to make in his other fights. It will likely take a more reckless approach, more similar to that of Gustavo Lemos, to get to Hitchins. If given any kind of air, he is likely to pick apart most everyone at 140. 

“I want Teofimo, in New York, Brooklyn, unification. I think that’ll be one of the biggest fights in 2025, a very lucrative fight, a very big fight and like I said I don’t belong in the ring with no one that’s not in the top level of boxing.”

That fight may take some time. Lopez is pursuing big name fights with the likes of Terence Crawford, has been relatively inactive, and frankly has struggled with styles similar to Hitchins on multiple occasions. Hitchins shouldn’t hold his breath on that one. But he’s officially a guy at this weight, and one that will be extremely difficult to beat for whoever takes the challenge.

In the co-main, Henry LeBron (20-0, 10 ko) managed to survive a late round surge by Christopher Diaz (29-5, 19 ko) to win a unanimous decision.  A tale of two fights, LeBron boxed effectively from the outside for the first six rounds, with Diaz seeming to find a rhythm in the seventh and perhaps winning the remainder of the rounds. A close and high class affair LeBron has some of the best foot movement at 130 pounds right now, but Diaz with his veteran experience was able to cut off the ring and land hard body shots to limit LeBron’s movement down the stretch. LeBron looks headed to bigger and better things, but Diaz, who has only lost to the best of the best is one hell of a fighter, and I sure hope this isn’t the last we see of him. 

• Flyweight prospect Yankiel Rivera (7-0, 3 ko) was just a class above in a four round demolition of Angel Gonzalez. Rivera, a 2020 Olympian from Puerto Rico, is fast tracking and already looks like a title contender, ranked in the top 10 of multiple sanctioning bodies and only several regional or interim type titles. Rivera is fast, surgical, has a high IQ and seems to have the power to compete at the top. A fight between him and Galal Yafai sure would be fun. 
• In a bit of an upset, Marc Castro dropped a close decision Argentinas Augustin Ezequiel Quintana. Quintana (21-2-1, 13 ko) used his reach and hand speed to sharp shoot the surprisingly vulnerable Castro, who frequently squared up to Quintana. Castro (13-1, 8 ko) for his part, looked a bit lethargic and perhaps not his sharpest after dropping back down in weight from junior welterweight, and seemed to have problems penetrating the Philly shell defense that Quintana used on the inside. Castro will have to regroup after this one.