Richardson Hitchins has the record and the pedigree to join the large group of elite 140-pounders. He also has the skills on the microphone.
But Hitchins, who faces Gustavo Lemos Saturday in an IBF super lightweight title elminator in Las Vegas in a bout streamed on DAZN, still has many questions to be answered.
Hitchins, 26, was born and raised in Brooklyn, but he competed for Haiti at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when he failed to qualify for the U.S. team. He's gone 17-0 with seven KOs as a pro and is two wins away from his first world title.
He'll need to get past Lemos at the swank Fontainebleau Las Vegas on Saturday first. At DraftKings sports book, he's a -800 favorite to do it. But that's when things will get considerably more difficult for him. If Hitchins defeats Lemos, he'll earn a bout against IBF champion Subriel Matias.
Matis is one of a group of elite 140-pounders in the world, a list that includes WBC champion Devin Haney; Haney's April 20 opponent, Ryan Garcia; WBO champion Teofimo Lopez; WBA champion Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz; as well as guys like Regis Prograis; Josh Taylor; Steve Claggett; Arnold Barboza and Gary Antuanne Russell, among others.
Hitchins exudes confidence, though he's smart enough to focus on the task at hand. With Haney, the most prominent of the elite 140-pounders, about to meet Garcia in two weeks in New York, his name is being brought up a lot. But Hitchins needs to keep his eye on the prize and that means winning on Saturday before he worries about anything else.
"I will beat whoever you put in front of me," Hitchins said. "Subriel Matias, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, Pitbull; whoever you put in front of me, I will get the job done. When you get in there with me, fighters don’t look the same. I’m not one of the guys Lemos has fought, Devin has fought; I’m not going to just receive punches or just be there; there’s going to be some shit coming back at you, there’s going to be a lot of thinking that you are going to have to do in there.
"My focus is on Gustavo Lemos, not Devin Haney. We’ve got to get past Saturday night, just like I’ve had to get past all the other fights I’ve had."
Hitchins has always been a boastful fighter, so it shouldn't come as much of a shock that he's expecting a one-sided victory.
But given where he is in his career, he can't afford a slip-up. And if he looks past Lemos, well, all of those brash words will sound hollow. Still, he's aware of what he's capable of doing and confident he'll pull it off.
"I expect Saturday night to be a whitewash, and for me to show that I’m on a whole different level," he said. "The only thing that can save him in this fight is his heart and if he can take a punch, and I’ve seen him hurt with bums. I’ve never been down in my career and never been hurt, thank God. We’ll see what happens on Saturday, but I just feel that I’m on a whole different level, up there with the Devin Haneys, Subriel Matias’, Shakur Stevensons, the top level guys. I’m the cream of the crop-type of talent and you have to start talking that like because I go out there over and over and prove it. I dominate.
"If this guy comes out the way he’s been coming out in his last fights, like the way he fought Lee Selby, it’s not going to go good for him. Lee hurt him in the third round, and I ain’t Lee Selby. He was 35 years old and coming up from 126 pounds. This guy has never fought anyone. I’m going to step on him on Saturday and I won’t lie, Eddie: I’m robbing you. This is free money. It’s easy. You are just making my bank account look bigger."
It's going to really balloon if he can win on Saturday and work his way into that lineup of killers that lies ahead.