Richardson Hitchins says his aim is to prove he is “levels above” Liam Paro when he challenges him for the IBF light welterweight title this Saturday, December 7, at Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan. The 12-round headliner will be featured live on DAZN.
Questionable tactics
IBF mandatory Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) wants to dominate Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) and not just beat him by a narrow margin. He wants full training for Australia.
Hitchins, 27, is concerned about the negative tactics shown by southpaw Paro in his recent win over the IBF 140-lb champion. Soubriel Matias on June 15 in Manati, Puerto Rico.
Paro was outmatched in the offensive power and skill department against Matias, but managed to get the win using these four things:
– Continuous grip
– Pushing
– Moving
– Roughhouse Tactics
The referee was right in there only body and I do nothing there, looking & disengage from the policing of Paros’ tactics against Matias. This was surprising because Paro’s pushing, holding and other questionable tactics should have resulted in warnings and point deductions, which would have tipped the scales in Matias’s favor. In other words, Subriel would have won.
With the Paro-Hitchins match being staged again in Puerto Rico, it will be interesting to see if the referee does anything to control the tactics Paro uses in the match.
If Liam chooses to constantly hold, push and punch Hitchins in the back of the head, is the referee going to do something about it or just stand around, blank-eyed, taking up ring space to no useful purpose?
Hitchins will likely be well prepared for Paro’s tricks and won’t let them happen without strategizing to undo them.
Richardson’s goal to dominate
“I’ve been calling out Liam Paro’s name ever since I signed with Matchroom. I signed with them at the same time. I will fight Liam Paros. I will fight Montana. It really doesn’t matter,” Richardson Hitchins told Boxing News.
“Now that he has the world title. I just want to go out there and show that I’m levels above Liam Paro. It’s not even about winning a world title. If I win a world title by an inch, I won’t like it, but it’s about going out there and separating myself to be the fighter that I know I am.
“I wouldn’t say he won comfortably and dominantly. I think he won in a way that you know he won the race. It wasn’t comfortable and it wasn’t dominant,” Hitchins said of Paro’s grueling 12-round unanimous decision over IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias on June 15 in Manati, Puerto Rico.
The victory of Paros over Matias was anything but comfortable. He was forced to hold, push and move to avoid being hit by the IBF champion. Again, it would be a different story if the referee was on his JOB, warning and punishing Paros.
I felt that Liam should have had three point cuts in the fight which would have changed the results dramatically and probably resulted in Matias knocking him out. Without the hold and push that Paros got away with, he would have been forced to either stand and fight or run. He wouldn’t win the match by moving. So he would have to fight Matias, which wouldn’t end well for him because he was getting pounded during the exchanges.
“Liam came in with a fundamental game plan. Move, touch, hit, hold and do it the whole fight (against Matias),” Hitchins said. “When he started to break down mentally, he had his corner to cheer him up. “You can do it,” and he had already entered the score. All he had to do was keep going and not give up. He came away with a lot of grip in this fight and was able to walk away with a win,” Hitchins said of Paro’s ugly, clinch-filled, emotional and aggressive win over Matias.
“When we get there, we’ll see how his timing matches up with mine,” Hitchins said.
