“Robbery”: Teddy Atlas Claims Richardson Hitchins’ Win Over Gustavo Lemos Was ‘Fix’ Fight

The age-old problem of boxing has reared its head again! The April 6 fight between rising star Richardson Hitchins and Argentina’s Gustavo Lemos ended in controversy! 26-year-old Hitchins managed to secure another victory, but the fight was extremely close, with many even suggesting Gustavo was robbed. Even legendary trainer Teddy Atlas feels the same way! However, he goes a step further by claiming the fight was fixed. 

While the action in the ring failed to reflect on the score card, final scores from one of the judges could have sparked outrage. The final scores were tallied up to 115-113 by two judges, while the third, Tim Cheatham, scored it 117-111. Something that even Atlas brought up during his The Fight with Teddy Atlas podcast!

Teddy Atlas says Gustavo “Lemos did all the work—all the punching”

Outraged by the outcome of the DAZN-streamed fight in Fontainebleau, Las Vegas, the Staten Island-born trainer didn’t hold back his criticism. He said, “I thought [Lemos] won the early rounds. If you didn’t have him up the first two rounds 2-0, then that’s [a] sign that you’re looking to fix the fight. No, really, I’m strong with it. I don’t care.” Atlas even shared this opinion on Instagram, captioning the post, “Robbery.”

Further justifying his point, Atlas said, “Lemos did all the work—all the punching, everything the first two rounds… If you don’t have him winning the 12th… I don’t know about the other judges, but Cheatham didn’t give him the 12th. I mean, are you kidding me?” According to Atlas, Lemos went in the final rounds like a ferocious beast, so there’s no way he could have lost that round.

However, Atlas acknowledged that Hitchins managed to turn the tides in the middle rounds, but seemed adamant that Lemos did enough and won enough rounds to take home the trophy! Meanwhile, Hitchins has shared his thoughts on how the fight went. 

Richardson Hitchins labels the fight a “learning experience”

Whether there will be a rematch between the fighters is still unclear, but Hitchins admittedly learned a lot from his Argentinian opponent. During an interview after the fight, Hitchins said, “I still had that funny feeling like, ‘alright, this might be one of [those] nights where we don’t know about this guy, so I got to be on edge’ and it was a good fight; it was a great learning experience.”

Hitchins acknowledged his opponent’s power and skills, suggesting Gustavo caught him several times, but he managed to keep it going. Hitchins believes he won the fight, albeit a close one. So, “I feel like it is what it is—back to the drawing board; just keep getting better.”

Whether it was a robbery or not is up to the experts, but as far as Teddy Atlas is concerned, Gustavo was robbed of his win. Did you watch the fight? Do you think it was a robbery?