Richardson Hitchins (18-0, 7 KOs) won a controversial 12 round unanimous decision over Gustavo Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) in an IBF light welterweight title eliminator at the the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, Las Vegas. The crowd booed the decision.
The scores were 117-111, 115-113, 115-113. This writer had Lemos winning 9-3. Eddie Hearn’s fighter, Hitchins got away with nonstop clinching all night long without being penalized. The referee let Hitchins hold, and that was a major part of his game.
“I felt I won the fight,” said Hitchins. “I felt I won easily.
Hitchins is now the mandatory for IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias. Hopefully, Hitchins doesn’t clinch and run against Matias like he did tonight because that was ugly.
Undercard results.
Unbeaten super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco (21-0, 17 KOs) won a messy ten-round unanimous decision against previously unbeaten Shawn McCalman (15-1, 7 KOs). The scores were 98-92, 97-92 and 96-94.
Initially, the gangly 6’4″ Pacheco had problems with the hand speed, reach and the quick feet of McCalman.
In the second half of the fight, Pacheco made adjustments and controlled the action with his aggressiveness and power shots. McCalman did a lot of clinching in the final three rounds, trying to keep Pacheco from connecting.
2020 Olympic gold medalist flyweight prospect Galal Yafai (7-0, 5 KOs) stopped Agustin Gauto (21-2, 15 KOs) in the eighth round. The time of the stoppage was at 2:40 of round eight.
The heavy-handed Gauto stunned Yafai in the fifth round with a big left hand late. Yafai was cut over his left eye from a clash of heads. in the sixth. The referee gave the 31-year-old Yafai a lot of leeway, allowing him to push repeatedly throughout the contest without penalizing him.
The pushing was a huge part of Yafai’s game tonight, letting him keep the powerful Gauta from getting close enough to land. Had that illegal move been addressed, it might have been a different outcome.
Overall, not a great performance by Yafai, as he got hit a lot and was taking too many big shots. It’s hard to believe he was an Olympic gold medalist because he didn’t look it tonight.
The referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the fight due to Gauta getting hit with an accumulation of punches.
Skye Nicholson (10-0, 1 KOs) dominated Sara Mahfoud (14-2, 3 KOs), winning a wide ten-round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC world female featherweight title.
The scores were 100-90, 100-90, and 99-91. The southpaw Nicholson outboxed the 34-year-old Mahfoud with her defense, hitting and avoiding the return fire from the shorter fighter to win an easy decision.
Super featherweight prospect Marc Castro (11-0, 8 KOs) labored his way to a harder-than-expected ten-round unanimous decision over veteran Abraham Montoya (22-6-1, 14 KOs). The scores were 100-90, 98-92, and 97-93.
The 24-year-old Castro struggled early in the fight, getting hit a lot by Montoya and looking fatigued from the fast pace of the Mexican fighter. From rounds four through seven, Castro controlled the fight with harder, cleaner shots.
Montoya came back in the eighth round to land many shots to Castro’s head and body, who retreated around the ring. In the ninth and tenth rounds, the action was competitive, with both guys landing many shots. Castro had more power on his punches but couldn’t hurt Montoya.
After the tenth round ended, Castro continued throwing punches, landing several cheap shots that resulted in Montoya firing back and the two needing to be separated. All in all, Castro didn’t give an impressive performance.
For him to be taken seriously as a future world champion at 130, he’s got to fight better than this because he gets hit too easily. If Montoya had more power, Castro would have been in trouble tonight.