You think casino resort fees in Las Vegas or the price to park at most properties are bad? You should've seen the deal that Gustavo Lemos was stuck with after going 12 rounds with Richardson Hitchins at the Fountaineblue Las Vegas.
Despite being the stronger puncher and the guy who the overwhelming majority of observers had winning, Lemos was on the short end of a unanimous decision. The scores read 115-113 (twice), and 117-111.
The only deal that would've been worse for Lemos is if he had been stuck with a time share in 'Sin City'.
Some will say this was a close fight, others will label it a questionable decision. I say it was a robbery. This was a rotten call. To me, it's even a stretch to say that Hitchins won five rounds, much less seven, and certainly not nine(and more on that later).
Lemos, who is your typically strong and rugged Argentine fighter, came out fast. He buzzed the normally hard-to-find Hitchins with an overhand right near the end of the first round, and carried the action early. Hitchins is a sound boxer, but on this night his movements looked labored. To his credit, he rallied a bit in the middle stages of the bout, and banked a few rounds to close the gap.
Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing
But outside round eight, the late innings were controlled by Lemos, who added uppercuts to his arsenal. My personal card had it 116-112. Yeah, it was that clear in my view. Some will argue that Hitchins boxed well. I'd argue that even when he boxed, he didn't do enough to win the requisite seven rounds to win that fight.
No matter what Sergio Mora and Claressa Shields tried to sell you on the DAZN broadcast, just merely having Lemos do a little bit less than the previous rounds, does not mean that Hitchins deserved certain rounds. There is a greater argument that Lemos won nine rounds than there is Hitchins.
Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing
As you look at the official scorecards, two of the three ringside arbiters gave that opening stanza to Hitchins, even though he did nothing more than scamper around the ring, and then got hurt late. One of those judges was Tim Cheats'em, excuse me, Cheatham (who was the judge who had Hitchins up 117-111). So the tone was set early on, it was going to be very difficult -- if not, impossible -- for Lemos to beat the Matchroom house fighter.
Matchroom Boxing
If the attendance wasn't so sparse, the catcalls would've been much louder.
Also it has to be noted that the usually solid, Raul Caiz Jr, never warned Hitchins for the incessant holding. Holding, is a tactic (an illegal one at that if you go by the rule book), not a skill. If getting clinched was a drug, Lemos would've suffered an overdose.
But that's just my opinion. The fact is Hitchins got the victory. Since this was an IBF eliminator, he is now in line to face one of the great two-fisted pressure fighters in the sport, Subriel Matias.
Good luck with that.
HI-LITES
Here is the highlight montage of Hitchins-Lemos from DAZN. Now, clips can be edited to make a fighter look better (or worse), but what I found interesting was the comments below this video. We can't all be wrong, can we?
FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS | Richardson Hitchins vs. Gustavo Lemos
FINAL FLURRIES
Bakhram Murtazaliev captured the vacant IBF 154 pound title by rallying to stop Jack Culcay in round 11. Manager Egis Klimas adds to his championship roster. He has a big stretch of bouts coming up with Oleksandr Usyk facing Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight crown, and Vasiliy Lomachenko facing George Kambosos for the vacant lightweight title....The Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney pay-per-view undercard will feature Arnold Barboza, Charles Conwell, 'Scrappy' Ramirez and 'Bek the Bully' Melikuziev....Oscar Collazo will headline a card on June 7 at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino on a card that will be promoted by Golden Boy... Top Rank has announced that Giovanni Santillan will take on Brian Norman Jr. on May 18th in San Diego... I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com...
