Richardson Hitchins Impresses and Benn Wins Comeback Fight
In a near shutout, Richardson Hitchins (17-0, 7 KOs) came away with a unanimous decision (120-108, 120-108, 119-109) over former world title challenger Jose Zepeda (37-4, 28 KOs) at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida.
Zepeda was the aggressor from the opening bell. But Hitchins is a sniper in the ring. He used his left jab to keep his opponents at bay, then tagged his opponent with sharp right hands and uppercut as he controlled the early rounds.
At the midway point, you could see Hitchins grow in confidence. He continued to pepper Zepeda with combinations to the head. By round eight, Hitchins was doing whatever he wanted. By the tenth round, Zepeda was battered, bloodied, and getting beat up.
Overall, it was a flawless performance for the victor. After the fight, Hitchins said he would love to fight either WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez or the winner of the upcoming contest between WBC 140-pound champion Regis Prograis and reigning unified lightweight champion Devin Haney.
CONOR BENN DOMINATES RODOLFO OROZCO
Finally, back in the ring after battling with the British Boxing Board of Control, Conor “The Destroyer” Benn (22-0, 14KO) took out his frustration on Rodolfo Orozco (32-4-3, 24KO) with ease.
The Destroyer landed power shots early and often throughout the fight. He found a home for the straight right hand and even went to the body to soften up the tough Mexican.
Orozco refused to go away easy and kept coming forward before having success with body shots as a semi-tired Benn was against the ropes. As the fight continued, he was being used as a human punching bag as the Brit hit him with everything except the kitchen sink.
When the final bell sounded, two judges scored it 99-91 and 96-94 for Benn. It was a good return fight after being out of the ring for more than a year. Equally important, he was able to bank some much-needed rounds to get his body back into fight mode.
With this fight in the bag, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn will try to revisit the rivalry fight against Chris Eubank Jr. During the post-fight interview, he expressed a desire to fight in front of British boxing fans again.
JESSICA MCCASKILL VERSUS SANDY RYAN ENDS IN CONTROVERSIAL DRAW
WBO welterweight champion Sandy Ryan (6-1-1, 2KO) boxed beautifully and still got robbed against unified champion Jessica McCaskill (12-3-1, 5KO) in Orlando, Florida.
Early in the fight, both women looked to establish their game plan. However, Ryan’s focused and constant body attack played a huge factor throughout the fight. Moreover, she fought an extremely disciplined fight by working behind the jab and used her height, reach, footwork, and hand speed to perfection.
In the second half, McCaskill tried to turn it up and landed a few good shots. It was grit versus grit as both women decided to fight in a phone booth. Ryan hurt the unified champion multiple times with a relentless body attack.
The battle ended with a strong showing from the WBO champion; she landed cleaner and more meaningful shots. What should have been easy to score turned into controversy as the judge’s scorecards were 97-93 McCaskill, 96-94 Ryan, and 95-95, a draw.
There is no way McCaskill won more than two rounds at best. The fans would show how they felt by booing the American champion and cheering the British champion.
