By Jim Calfa: Richardson Hitchins weighed in at 139.8 lbs during Friday’s weigh-in for his 12-round light welterweight main event fight against Jose Zepeda at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida. For his part, the 34-year-old Zepeda (37-3, 28 KOs) weighed in at 140 lbs.
(Photo credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom)
During the face-off, the 25-year-old Hitchins grinned at Zepeda, letting him know that he was heading to defeat on Saturday night on September 23rd.
Hitchins-Zepeda event will be shown live on DAZN at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The highly hyped Brooklyn, New York native Hitchins will be facing his first notable opponent of his six-year pro career, so it’s difficult to know how well he’ll do. When a fighter has been matched as softly as Hitchins has, sometimes the wheels come off when they’re put in with their first contender.
This will be the second fight for Zepeda since losing to Regis Prograis by an 11th round knockout last November in a battle for the vacant WBC 140-lb title.
Zepeda was completely dominated by Prograis in that fight, and the first time in his career that he’d been beaten so soundly. In Zepeda’s two previous defeats, he’d lost a questionable 12 round decision to Jose Ramirez in 2019 and been stopped in the second due to a left shoulder injury in his fight against Terry Flanagan in 2015.
In Zepeda’s last fight in March, he beat Neeraj Goyat by a unanimous decision in a one-sided contest.
Undercard weights
- Conor Benn 153.6 vs. Rodolfo Orozco 154.4
- Jessica McCaskill 146.4 vs. Sandy Ryan 146.4
- Austin Williams 160 vs. Steve Rolls 159.2
Hitchins facing his first test
“He said, ‘I’m going to show you unbelievable skill levels tomorrow night,’ and Zepedaa said, ‘I’ve seen everything.’ He [Hitchins] said, you haven’t seen anything like this, I promise,'” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social about what was said between Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda during their face-off during Friday’s weigh-in.
“Richardson Hitchins believes he’s a pure standout talent. I’m talking about Haney, Stevenson, and Tank. He believes he’s on that level. He’s got the amateur recognition and pedigree. A lot of people in this sport believe he is on that level, and Jose Zepeda is the kind of fight that will show that.
“It’s the absolute coming out moment for Richarson Hitchins on Saturday night, and it’s going to be a really tough fight because Zepeda looks ready. He’s got Manny Robles and everyone on the team ready to go. I think it’s a tremendous fight, I really do.
“If you want to have equality, you have to judge every fight on its on It’s commercial merit, and I’m just going to be completely honest with you and plain and simple,” said Hearn when asked why the Conor Benn vs. Rodolfo Orozco non-title fight is being positioned ahead of the female world title unification clash between champions Jessica McCaskill and Sandy Ryan on the card.
Undercard chief support
“There are more eyeballs; there is more interaction, there is certainly obviously more controversy, there is more news source involvement, there is a great viewing figure number for the Conor Benn fight than Ryan McCaskill,” said Hearn.
“If you want equality, it has nothing to do with handing it out. Just because a fight is unified, the value of the fight goes above it, and I just have to say. Conor Benn is one of the biggest stars in the sport. Love it, hate it; there’s controversy like the interactions this week.
“The digital interactions, the media interactions have gone through the roof, and that’s the honest truth. Ryan against McCaskill is an unbelievable fight, but we shouldn’t just put it there because in this case, that was why the decision was made, and you know that’s the honest truth.
“Absolutely, there’s a lot of ruffled feathers,” said Hearn about Benn fighting without serving a suspension for his positive test for a banned substance. Some people are very happy to see him back. Some people are not happy to see him back. Just as expected, really.
“I think we’ve been through a million times this week; the fact that he is able to box, and therefore, he is going to box, and he does that this Saturday. Then after that, we’ll plan his next fight, and we’ll keep
moving.
“If there ever comes a moment where he’s not clear to the box, he won’t box, but right now, as I said, he is. I think Orozco looks absolutely massive. I saw him at the head-to-head, and obviously, you know you have to understand that Conor Benn is a small 154.
“He’s going to be a small 160 when he fights Chris Eubank, but it’s going to be really interesting. I like the fact he’s fighting at a light middleweight in this fight and not a blown-up light welterweight.
“So Orozco’s been training, he said for eight nine weeks for another fight. So listen, it’s the opportunity for a lifetime. I hope Conor can go in and do a job on him,” said Hearn.