Photos: Hitchins says Kambosos fight won’t go full distance

Richardson Hitchins and George Kambosos Jr traded barbs during a media day ahead of their bout. The pair go head-to-head in the main event at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 14. Hitchins’s IBF super lightweight title is on the line.

Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) of Brooklyn, NY makes the first defense of the belt that he claimed by split decision against Liam Paro last December. The unbeaten 27-year-old said he was going to stop his next opponent, stating there were “levels” in the sport.

“You are my highest payday, and my easiest payday,” Hitchins told Kambosos Jr. “This sh*t comes fast and sharp. I’m going to beat the sh*t out of you. The fight isn’t going the distance. I promise I’ll stop you.”

“He’s training to land the right hand. To make it a tough and rugged fight, because that’s what you need to do, that’s what you have to do. You can’t outbox me. Your dad knows, your team knows. I’m one of the smartest fighters in the sport. You bring the fighter’s mentality. You are a warrior, and you are tough, and you have experience. But it’s just levels.”

‘This is about catching that feeling’

Australia’s Kambosos Jr (22-3, 10 KOs) looks to become champion in his second weight class at the same venue where he landed a title at lightweight. The 31-year-old Sydney native, who unified belts at 135 lbs by split decision against Teofimo Lopez, and twice unsuccessfully fought Devin Haney for the division’s undisputed title, and challenged Vasyl Lomachenko for the IBF lightweight belt, said he was looking for “that feeling” of being on top and also expressed confidence in a victorious outcome.

“This is not about money, don’t get it twisted, I’ve made a sh*tload of money,” said Kambosos Jr. “This is about catching that feeling again, and I’m coming back to the same place I caught that feeling before.”

“This is about proving to the world who I am – the champion that I am, the champion I have been. I’ve been to this place, I proved myself as an underdog, and I’m coming to do it again.”

“If you fought Lopez, Haney twice, and Lomachenko when I fought them, they would beat your a**. I will beat your a** on June 14.”

On the Hitchins vs Kambosos undercard, Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs) of Cuba goes up against Hironori Mishiro (17-1-1, 6 KOs) of Japan. The contest serves as an IBF lightweight title eliminator.

Heavyweights Alexis Barriere (12-0, 10 KOs) of Canada and Roney Hines (14-0-1, 8 KOs) of Cleveland, Ohio clash for the WBC Continental Americas belt. Ernesto Mercado (17-0, 16 KOs) of Upland, CA and Jonathan Montrel (19-3, 13 KOs) of NOLA square off for the IBF North American and WBC Continental Americas super lightweight straps. Zaquin Moses (22-6, 2 KOs) of Newark, NJ and Carl Rogers (3-2) of Columbia, MO meet at super featherweight.