Richardson Hitchins remained unbeaten however struggled within the course of.
The 140-pound contender, who’s hoping to get large fights, needed to dig deep to defeat relative unknown Gustavo Lemos by a unanimous, however tight resolution Saturday in Las Vegas.
Hitchins (18-0, 7 KOs) gained by scores of 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113, with solely the later two tallies reflecting what occurred within the ring.
The winner boxed properly, combating successfully behind his jab for many of the battle. Nevertheless, Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) used fixed stress to drive Hitchins to interact with him and sometimes obtained the higher of the motion in an entertaining scrap.
The fighters had been nearly inseparable by way of CompuBox stats, with Hitchins outlanding Lemos by solely 11 punches total, 172-161.
Nevertheless, Hitchins had a big benefit in jabs landed (98-22) whereas Lemos had an enormous edge in energy pictures that linked (139-74). Fighters are sometimes rewarded extra for the latter than the previous.
Nonetheless, one choose, Tim Cheatham, by some means had Hitchins profitable 117-111, 9 rounds to 3. The 115-113 scores made sense.
The victory makes the 26-year-old from Brooklyn the obligatory challenger for the IBF 140-pound title. Champion Subriel Matias is scheduled to defend his belt towards Liam Paro on June 15 in Puerto Rico, which means Hitchins might get the winner.
In the meantime, the 28-year-old Lemos, who has a victory over Lee Selby however by no means fought exterior his native Argentina, proved along with his sturdy efficiency that he’s among the many higher 140-pounders.
He got here up quick on the scorecards however most likely earned not less than another vital battle.
