Richardson Hitchens (18-0, 7 KOs) takes on Gustavo Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) in an IBF light welterweight title eliminator Saturday night at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, according to the judges. He won by unanimous decision in the 12th round. ,
questionable results
Lemos hurt Hitchens several times, forcing Hitchens to hold onto him to avoid being knocked out. Interestingly, the referee allowed Hitchens to clinch frequently throughout the contest without warning him. It was a big part of Hitchens' match and ruined the flow of the fight.
Here are the scores:
– 117-111: Wow!
– 115-113
– 115-113
It's safe to say that if a better referee had been at work tonight, Hitchens would have been deducted multiple points or disqualified for possession. Neutralizing Lemos' offense was a major part of Hitchens' match, but it was far beyond what would normally be allowed by a quality referee.
hitchens under fire
Fans on social media overwhelmingly questioned the decision, calling it a robbery, and the ringside crowd booed loudly when the results were announced.
Fans considered Lemos to be the rightful winner of the match, as Lemos was pushing the match, taking the better shots, and trying to mess with all of Hitchens' defense to make the match more enjoyable.
Hitchens' game plan was very simple down to three points: Jab, movement, frequent clinch, and an illegal straight arm to keep Lemos from landing.
Lemos landed well throughout the match and was able to weave through Hitchens' clinching minefield that grabbed him every time he got close, but the referee's lack of control made for a terrible match to watch. He went missing during tonight's action.
Hitchens, a fighter promoted by Eddie Hearn, stands to challenge for the world title against the winner of June's bout between IBF light welterweight champion Sabriel Mathias and Liam Paro.
Hearn has also promoted Matthias, so if Sabriel wins the fight against Palo, it would be easy for him to face Hitchens next. After the match, Hearn surprisingly praised Hitchens' performance as an impressive performance. It was interesting to see Hearn praise Hitchens with a straight face.
Matthias is a strong fighter, so it will be interesting to see if Hitchens can hold Matthias as often as he did tonight without getting clubbed at close range, knocked out, or penalized by a quality referee. It's going to be interesting.
Ideally, I'd like to see Hearn take the high road by giving Lemos an immediate rematch with a different referee, but that won't happen. There's too much money for Hitchens to have a shot at the title, and they're not going to risk sending him back to Lemos and seeing him potentially lose.
