Australian boxer George Kambosos Jr has suffered a decisive TKO loss to IBF super lightweight champion Richardson Hitchins at Madison Square Garden, with the American dominating from the opening bell.
Hitchins’ relentless jab and power punches left Kambosos visibly damaged early, with his right eye swelling by the second round.
A heavy body shot in the fifth round rocked the Aussie, and another in the eighth sent him to the canvas. The referee stopped the fight shortly after, as Hitchins gestured to Kambosos’ corner to end it.
“I told his dad, ‘if you love your son, you should stop this fight’,” Hitchins said post-fight. “He was tough, a true competitor, but I was the better man tonight.”
Kambosos, now 22–4 after losing four of his last six fights, reflected on the defeat: “I chose greatness. I really believed in myself, I just didn’t have it … he was just a bit too good for me tonight.”
Despite the loss, he said: “I hope you guys appreciate the warrior that I am, I fight the best.”
He added his timing was off and that he couldn’t counter Hitchins’ laser jab: “It’s the timing, I’ve had too many wars now … it is what it is.”
Source: ABC.