Richardson Hitchins Vs. Oscar Duarte Predictions – ‘He Will KO Him’

Richardson Hitchins defends his IBF Junior Welterweight belt against Oscar Duarte, as pros picked their winner.
The undefeated Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) enters the ring looking to solidify his status after a strong 2025. Hitchins claimed the IBF crown in December 2024 with a split-decision win over Liam Paro in Puerto Rico. He followed that by returning to New York in June 2025, where he dismantled former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. with a dominant eighth-round TKO.
Duarte enters his first world title opportunity riding a four-fight winning streak that has proved he belongs at the top level. Duarte became the first man to stop the former world champion, Joseph “JoJo” Diaz, securing a 9th-round TKO in April 2024. In his most significant result to date, Duarte edged out Kenneth Sims Jr. via a majority decision.
Pre-Fight
“This is the fight to prove that his performance against George Kambosos wasn’t a fluke. This is going to show that he is the type of fighter that is supposed to be mentioned amongst the elites – the Shakur Stevensons, Devin Haneys, the Teofimo Lopezes, Terence Crawfords, those guys. With the Lemos fight, he had a lot of stuff going on in his mind, which was like a distraction. That Lemos fight was a good fight to prepare him for this kind of fight. This kid has evolved. Duarte is not Lemos. They put on different pressure and mechanics,” Lenny Wilson (Hitchins’ trainer) said
Predictions






The Card
Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia; WBC welterweight title
Richardson Hitchins vs. Oscar Duarte; Hitchins’ IBF super lightweight title
Gary Antuanne Russell vs. Andy Hiraoka; WBA super lightweight title
Frank Martin vs. Nahir Albright; Super lightweight
Bektemir Melikuziev vs. Sena Agbeko; Super middleweight
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