Moments after scoring the most impressive win of his career, stopping George Kambosos inside The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Richardson Hitchins declared himself a free agent.
Matchroom promoted the show, and New Yorker Hitchins, who dazzled in front of his hometown fans before putting the Aussie away with a bodyshot, is managed by Keith Connolly.
Having thanked Hearn initially, the 27-year-old Hitchins – while still in the ring – said he was a free agent and that did not go down well with Hearn, who had understandably felt Hitchins had delivered against Kambosos.
Speaking to IFL, Hearn said afterwards that he had felt disrespected by the “free agent” line that Hitchins, who moved to 20-0 (8 KOs), used post-fight.
“I did feel disrespected, because it’s not him. It’s just dogs around him,” said Hearn. “There’s no loyalty in boxing, you’ve got to look after yourself, but when someone has come in when you were on the floor… I remember when I first met Richardson Hitchins, the door of his car was falling off, and to be honest I’ve spent a lot of money and invested in a young man that I really respect and admire and I’ve boxed him at Madison Square Garden, I’ve headlined him in Orlando, when we really didn’t sell any tickets and we lost a lot of money. I kept with it. I headlined him in Las Vegas, where again we didn’t sell many tickets and we lost money, then I paid for him to get the opportunity to fight Liam Paro for the world title. Then I paid up for a big opponent in George Kambosos; paid up for the big homecoming in New York. But Richardson is a good kid. He’s just got some snakes around him and those snakes will make you feel like they’re your guy. But the reality is, they’re bloodsuckers. Certain individuals take a bigger percentage or the same percentage as the promoter who is bankrolling you and paying for your entire path in the sport and making the investment.
“Managers have zero risk. They just let the promoter do all the work. They negotiate the deal. By the way, a good manager is good for your career… I just understand the game, so it doesn’t infuriate me. I just go, ‘You’re a dog, you’ll get what’s fucking coming to you.’ That’s all. That’s boxing.”
Hearn said he was talking about fighters in general, not specifically Hitchins, and added: “As far as Richie’s concerned, Keith Connolly just said, ‘Make sure you say you’re a free agent, make sure you say you’re a free agent.’ Well, that’s all right, because you know what you’re dealing with. You have to understand one thing, if I’ve got your back, you’re good. If you start fucking around with me… so really the situation is, do I want to be in the Richardson Hitchins business if it’s going to be like that? I’m pretty big on the loyalty side of the game.”
Asked whether he would work with Hitchins again moving forward, Hearn – who said he did not blame Hitchins – replied: “If it suits me, yeah.”