George Kambosos Jr and Richardson Hitchins face-off features slap and thwarted attempt to throw chair

Independent

a day ago

The final press conference for George Kambosos Jr's fight with Richardson Hitchins ended in chaos on Thursday, as promoter Eddie Hearn decided to scrap a face-off between the boxers.
Kambosos Jr's father, Jim, appeared to use a microphone to strike Hitchins's trainer, Lenny Wilson, who then grabbed a chair in an apparent attempt to throw it across the stage.
Hitchins, 27, prevented his coach from doing so, but Hearn called an end to the press conference to prevent further altercations. The protagonists were quickly escorted off the stage as a result. Still, American Hitchins and Australia's Kambosos Jr, 31, are set to face off at Friday's weigh-in, before their grudge match in New York City on Saturday night (14 June).
Thursday's drama began with Hitchins getting in Kambosos Jr's face over a $50,000 bet that they had discussed earlier in the week. Hitchins, after flashing $50,000 in cash in Kambosos Jr's face on Thursday, said: 'The money is here, can we shake on it?
'Bet the f*****g money, you p****,' he added, after Kambosos Jr shoved the champion and shouted: 'You better get the f*** out of my face.'
Later, after the mic slap and chair incident, Hitchins shouted: 'F*** around, and you won't make it out of this city. You boys better calm the f*** down.' Kambosos Jr hit back: 'I got boys, too [...] I'm in your city, I don't give a f***.'
In Saturday's bout at Madison Square Garden Theater, Hitchins will defend the IBF super-lightweight title, along with his unbeaten record of 19-0 (7 knockouts). Meanwhile, Kambosos Jr (22-3, 10 KOs) is aiming to become a two-weight world champion.
The Australian was previously a unified champion at lightweight, but with two points losses to Devin Haney in 2022, he lost the IBF and WBO belts and failed to regain them. Haney also retained the WBC title in those fights, both of which took place in Australia.
Kambosos Jr bounced back with a controversial decision victory over Maxi Hughes in 2023, picking up the IBO lightweight strap, but he lost it in May 2024 to Vasyl Lomachenko, who also won the vacant IBF gold that night.
While Lomachenko retired last week, Kambosos Jr responded to his defeat with a points win against Jake Wyllie in March.
Meanwhile, Hitchins took the IBF super-lightweight title from Liam Paro last time out, winning a split decision against the Australian southpaw in December.