Richardson Hitchens out of scheduled title defense; co-main event canceled

A significant fight is off the Mario Barios vs. Ryan Garcia card this evening.

IBF super lightweight champion Richardson Hitchins is out of his scheduled co-main event title defense against Oscar Duarte. Hitchins suffered an unknown illness and was unable to fight.

Hitchins and Duarte had done the mandatory same-day IBF weigh-in. Both guys had to come within ten pounds of the 140-pound weight limit. Hitchins came in at 149.4 while Duarte was 149.6.

The 28-year-old Hitchins was looking to make his second title defense after capturing the title from Liam Paro in December 2024. He stopped former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos in June.

Now, his second title defense will have to wait.

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