Richardson Hitchins warned Liam Paro not to hit him with rabbit punches when he challenges him for his IBF light welterweight title in 14 days on December 7th at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fight will be shown live on DAZN.
The New Yorker Hitchins (18-0, 7 KOs) is going to have to be ready to get in the gutter with Paro if he chooses to make it a dirty fight with excessive holding, rabbit punches, and shoving.
If it’s done to him and the referee won’t lift a finger to police the tactics, the Brooklyn, New York native Hitchins will have no choice but to get in the mud and slop around with Paro, turning it into a hybrid MMA, professional wrestling and boxing affair.
Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) threw some accidental rabbit punches and did quite a bit of holding in his win over former IBF 140-lb champion Subriel Matias on June 15th in Manati, Puerto Rico.
The holding and shoving that Paro, 28, did neutralize Matias’ offense. If not for that, the chances are that Matias would have won because he did damage when he wasn’t being held and shoved by the Aussie. The referee let Paro use these tactics without warning, penalizing, or disqualifying, so it was a situation where Matias had to put up with it.
Hitchins, 5’10”, has the height, reach, speed, and technical skills advantage, but he’s not as powerful as Paro. Moreover, he’s not accustomed to using roughhouse tactics to win fights. But for this fight, Hitchins may need to because Paro has a style is similar to Jeff Horn’s, another Aussie, who could make it rough on his opponents with his physical style.
Hitchins is coming off a controversial 12-round unanimous decision win over Gustavo Lemos on April 6th in Las Vegas. That fight turned out to be a tougher one than expected for Hitchins because he had problems with the pressure, and hard shots from Lemos. He’s going to need to fight a lot better than that against Paro if he wants to win this fight in two weeks.
“You can see he’s unstable. He’s emotional on Twitter. He has to try to sell to the people, but not just to himself. You stink out stadiums. None of your fights have proven you are what you say you are,” said Liam Paro to Matchroom Boxing, talking about Richardson Hitchins ahead of their fight on December 7th.
“On December 7th, meet me in the middle of the ring. Don’t run, and prove not just to me but to the world that you’ve got it,” said Paro.
“You think I got here by not having the X factor? Do you know my background as a fighter or a boxer? I got a heavy pedigree from the amateurs,” said Hitchins. “I’ve been at the biggest stage from 13 and 14. I’m here, and I’m going to take a world title.”
The last couple of performances from Hitchins against Lemos and Jose Zepeda have had a Shakur-esque flavor to them, with a lot of movement and booing from the crowds. Hitchins used the four-foot step-back move that Shakur Stevenson uses when attacked, and the fans at ringside for those two fights in Las Vegas and Orlando were not pleased.
“Keep that same energy,” said Paro. “Give the Puerto Rican people what they deserve. A fight. Don’t run. The Puerto Rican people are proud people. Don’t stink it out.”
“We know what kind of fight he wants. We can brawl if you want. You ain’t no brawler,” said Hitchins. “You ain’t never shown me a fight. Everyone you fight, you grab and hold. You hit them behind the head. Don’t hit me behind the head either.”
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