What began as a routine media call inside Madison Square Garden morphed into a full-blown roast session on Thursday when IBF super-lightweight titleholder Richardson “RBO” Hitchins brandished a wad of $50,000 and dared challenger George “Ferocious” Kambosos Jr. to match the stake. Kambosos responded with a forehead-to-forehead shove, Hitchins replied with expletives, and within seconds security was scrambling as fathers, trainers and even Bill Haney seated in the crowd joined the fray. One chair briefly left the floor in the hands of Hitchins’ coach Lenny Wilson before cooler heads intervened.
Kambosos insists the bet was redundant, he claims to have already wagered $350,000 on himself, and mocked Hitchins for “borrowed cash and borrowed jewelry.” Hitchins, undefeated in 19 fights, barked back that the Australian “doesn’t have a chin,” taunting him over knockdowns suffered against Teófimo Lopez and Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Watch Kambosos vs. Hitchins highlights: Watch
Saturday’s bout is Hitchins’ first defence of the belt he prised from Liam Paro in December and marks his long-promised return of a world title to New York. Yet Kambosos arrives with fond memories of the venue: he shocked Lopez in the same building in 2021 and reminds anyone who’ll listen that he is 5-0 on U.S. soil. “This is the trifecta,” he said. “There is no Plan B.”
Stylistically the matchup pits Hitchins’ measured, in-the-pocket precision against Kambosos’ proven appetite for high-pace trench warfare. The Brooklyn champion vows he will “stand right in front of him all night,” while the Sydney challenger teases that he might just borrow Hitchins’ playbook and force him to lead.
Whether the unsold tickets Kambosos mentioned earlier in fight week disappear or not, Madison Square Garden now owns a headline of its own: two antagonists, one championship, and a press-conference promise that Saturday’s main event won’t require scorecards to decide a winner.
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Image Credit: Matchroom Boxing