Highlights and results: Richardson Hitchins dominates John Bauza, wins for Yankiel Rivera, Skye Nicolson, more

Richardson Hitchins scored a dominant win over John Bauza tonight on the Serrano vs Cruz undercard, winning a wide 10-round decision.

Judges scored the fight 100-88 on all three cards, and Bad Left Hook scored the fight 100-89 on our unofficial card.

Hitchins (16-0, 7 KO) was just too good from the jump tonight, and has looked excellent in two fights since making the jump to Matchroom Boxing last year, showing a new level of motivation in his game that has seen him look like the potential star he’s long felt he was capable of being.

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The 25-year-old ex-Olympian (Hitchins fought for Haiti in 2016) was credited with a first round knockdown that shouldn’t have been called, just a bad call from the referee, but he never really got into the fight. Bauza (17-1, 7 KO) was definitely dropped for real in round four

To Bauza’s credit, he was trying really hard here, he just didn’t have much of anything for Hitchins, and I don’t think Bauza is nearly as bad as Hitchins made him look. This was entirely about Richardson Hitchins shining, using a strong, consistent jab and landing his straight right hand frequently and effectively.

There were plenty of chances, quite arguably, for referee Charlie Fitch to step in and stop the fight starting in round seven or so, certainly clear chances in rounds eight and nine, but Bauza — to his credit, foolish or brave or however you put it — would land single shots that kept Fitch from stepping in, whether he should have or not. And Bauza did not want to quit, and his corner didn’t want to pull him, and the fighter took more of a beating than necessary because of it.

More results and highlights

• Yankiel Rivera UD-8 Fernando Diaz: Good action fight to open the DAZN main card, with Rivera (3-0, 2 KO) and Diaz (11-3-1, 3 KO) putting on a nice eight-round effort on both sides. If Diaz had a bit more power, I think this fight might have looked a bit different. Rivera, who was Puerto Rico’s only Olympic boxer in Tokyo, has some swagger to his style and it did get him caught a few times. But he also has good offensive skills and can tighten up the defense when the opposition has more to fear, probably. He just signed with Matchroom officially, and this was his debut under their banner. I’m sure they mostly liked what they saw here.
• Skye Nicolson UD-10 Tania Alvarez: Nicolson (6-0, 0 KO) just does not look like she’s progressed in the ring since her first pro fight. She had a hopelessly overmatched opponent here — particularly if you’re talking about Nicolson fighting Amanda Serrano “in about a year” — and just repeated the same thing over and over, and also looked a little ragged in the second half of the fight. Judges had this 97-93, 98-92, and 100-90; I didn’t think there was any argument for Alvarez (7-1, 1 KO) to have won a round, but whatever. So I unofficially had it 100-90 for Nicolson, who is good enough to be a legitimate sort of contender already, yes, and I have been a fan of hers since the Tokyo Olympics. I still think she’s got skills and real upside, title-winner potential, but this was just a disappointing outing in ways that she could, you’d hope, control, and other ways that were not her doing at all. Alvarez was very tough, to give her the due respect, but she basically had no business in a ring with Nicolson, and we’re at a point where we have to sincerely wonder if Nicolson has any punching power. She remains a genuine prospect, but this kinda halted the “entertainment” momentum of what had been a very good card to this point.
• Ramla Ali UD-10 Avril Mathie: Scores were 99-91 from all three judges, and I unofficially had it 98-92, also for Ali, but this was a good fight and terrific effort from both. Ali (8-0, 2 KO) was just a little bit better consistently throughout the fight, and I thought starting from around the sixth she really took this over down the stretch. Mathie (8-1-1, 3 KO) did some good work here, but it was a good performance from Ali, and she held up really nicely over the 10 rounds, too, as did Mathie, they both cut a good pace. Entertaining scrap.