Following his unanimous decision victory over Gustavo Lemos over the weekend, Richardson Hitchins spoke to members of the media in his locker room to offer his reaction to a much tougher test than he expected from Lemos. Check out some of what he had to say below.
Hitchins on his reaction to the Lemos fight
“I feel like it was a tough fight. It was definitely a strenuous fight, it wasn’t basic. I mean, part of me, I really had mixed feelings about this fight because I feel like he was never tested, but he still showed that he had tremendous knockout power and showed that he did something good to get here, and was coming to another country. I know all the energy of his team, everything, I knew they were here to win.
“He had never been there with someone like me, but I still had this witty feeling of, ‘Okay, this might be one of those nights where we don’t know about this guy, so I must be nervous,’ and it felt good to fight, that it was a great lesson.
“He definitely caught me with some of the best shots I’ve had since I’ve been a pro. He caught me in the fight with some strenuous punches, I took it, survived and kept fighting.
“I feel like I won – I don’t want to say it was a comfortable decision, but it was a decision where I knew deep inside that I had won the fight. So I feel like it is what it is – we go back to the drawing board and just keep getting better.
About who he wants to fight next
“I feel like after this fight I’ll just go back to the drawing board and see who’s available. I still think maybe one more fight before I go for the world title to gain a little more experience. It was a great, learning experience.”