Richardson Hitchins (19-0) was nearly robbed, but thankfully, two sensible scorecards ensured the right decision was made.
The Brooklyn native became the new IBF super lightweight champion with a composed and masterful boxing performance to defeat Liam Paro (25-1) on Saturday night in Puerto Rico.
The official scorecards were: 117-111 Paro (Nelson Vazquez), 116-112 Hitchins (Carl Zappia), and 116-112 Hitchins (Frank Lombardi). Paro had won the title in his last fight against Subriel Mattias in June, but Hitchins presented a tougher challenge.
After struggling to find his timing against Paro’s herky-jerky style in the first four rounds, Hitchins put the downloaded data to work in the fifth frame and never looked back.
Hitchins’ jab and hard straight right hand consistently found a home on Paro’s face. Length, speed, and punching accuracy were Hitchins’ biggest advantages, as reflected in the CompuBox numbers listed below.
Hitchins out-landed Paro 87-56 from the fifth round through the end of the fight. Hitchins landed 29.9% of his total punches, while Paro landed just 17.4%. Hitchins also out-jabbed Paro 67-53 over the course of the fight.
Once Hitchins found his groove, he made it look easy and appears ready for an even bigger fight in his next outing.
During the post-fight interview, Hitchins called for a New York fight with Teofimo Lopez. That matchup would be a solid draw at Madison Square Garden. If it were somehow on the same card as Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Xander Zayas, we’d have a stacked night of boxing.
For now, it’s Hitchins’ time to celebrate while Paro contemplates what’s next for him.
After the fight, the talk centered around the bizarre scorecard submitted by Nelson Vazquez. DAZN’s Chris Mannix openly criticized Vazquez’s card ahead of his interview with Hitchins.
WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson took to X to blast Vazquez’s card as well.
Different scorecards are a part of combat sports, but Vazquez’s card was egregiously off base. It is tough to imagine how anyone could have coherently scored the fight for Paro by such a large margin. Vazquez’s inexplicable scorecard has sparked renewed debates about accountability in boxing judging. Several fans and analysts have called for increased training and oversight for judges in high-stakes bouts.
Thankfully, Vazquez’s card didn’t alter the official result, and the right man is the new IBF super lightweight champion. Here is a look at all of the results from the DAZN card.
- Richardson Hitchins SD-12 Liam Paro (116-112, 116-112, 111-117)
- Henry Lebron UD-10 Christopher Diaz (97-93, 97-93, 96-94)
- Yankiel Rivera TKO-4 Angel Gonzalez (2:09)
- Agustin Quintana SD-10 Marc Castro (97-93, 96-94, 94-96)
It was a big night for local fighters, Lebron and Rivera. Both came up with huge wins in front of their countrymen. Lebron’s victory pushes him close to a title shot. The victory ran his record to a perfect 20-0, but it wasn’t easy.
Early on, Lebron’s movement and jab gave Diaz a problem. However, Diaz began to close the distance and scored with some power shots late. Still, Lebron did enough to hold on.
Rivera was a whirlwind. He blasted his way through Gonzalez and proved he is prepared to take a step as a professional. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next from those two fighters.
