He’s packing quite a punch — even as a teen.
At just 19 years old, Richardson Hitchins is already a former Olympian and a rising boxing star. One thing he’s not, he insists, is ready to slow down.
If anything, the Crown Heights native is thinking about the next step — and five more after that. Hitchins says that while he’s thankful for every opportunity that’s come his way so far, he’s not even close to satisfied.
“This is kind of what I expected,” he said. “It’s going to blow my mind when I get to the level that I want to, the big time. I’m just coming up now, so this isn’t anything yet.”
Hitchins’s road to boxing glory began a few years ago when he discovered a handful of boxing videos online and started spending time hanging out in front of Atlas Cops and Kids boxing gym in Flatbush. Eventually, he ventured inside the gym — and then inside a ring — where it took him just a few rounds to convince those watching him that he had star potential.
“He’s a goofball. He’s a great kid, though,” said Aureliano Sosa, Hitchins’s trainer. “As a boxer, oh my God, he’s going to be a superstar. The sky is the limit and he’s learning every fight. He’s getting better and better.”
After years boxing at the amateur level, Hitchins represented Haiti at last year’s Rio Olympics. Since he turned professional, his career has taken off. He won his first two pro bouts — one by knockout, and is confident he can square off and hold his own against anyone.
“Coming up in the amateurs, you didn’t know who you were going to fight, ever,” Hitchins said. “You would find out who were fighting two hours before, sometimes 30 minutes, so it (was) just another day. I got a strong amateur background, so that prepared me a lot and I’m just confident.”
That confidence grew earlier this year when Hitchins signed with Mayweather productions, and then even more when Floyd Mayweather pointed him out to the crowd at the champ’s press conference with Conor McGregor last month.
Hitchins’s quest hit a speed bump when his July 29 fight was pulled from the undercard just the day before, but the local standout remains undaunted.
“I’m just happy that my promoter believes in me and knows the talent I possess,” he said. “I’m just looking to go out there and keep working for the people that believe in me and keep proving to the boxing world that I’m the future of boxing.”
Hitchins gets added motivation from the place where it all began.
“That’s something big,” he said. “I feel like Brooklyn hasn’t had that star in a long time and I want to pick up where [Brownsville native] Danny Jacobs is at now. I feel like he’s putting on and I want to pick up and take it to the next level.”
