Boxing lives by destroying itself. There is not the slightest interest in giving it credibility. The presumptions and bad thoughts surrounding a fight again had their correlation in a shameful failure. Gustavo “Tito” Lemos from Buenos Aires lost unfairly on points, in a unanimous decision, with the American Richardson Hitchins and could not become a mandatory challenger for the super lightweight world title of the International Boxing Federation, at the luxurious Fontaneibleau hotel in Las Vegas.
What Tito Lemos did in the early hours of Sunday was up to the task and deserved more than this bitter end. Above all, because of the determination with which he faced the match and how he endured it throughout the 12 rounds against an excessively conservative opponent. Far from being daunted by Hitchins’ numbers and the magnitude of the event, he came out to impose entry conditions and demonstrate how little he had to lose and how much he had to gain. However, Nor was he able to break the will of the three jurors who saw Hitchins win unusually by 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113.
Eléctrico, born 28 years ago in the Ruta 3 Sur neighborhood of Tres Arroyos, was left empty-handed in Las Vegas, despite being the main protagonist of the duel. Based on his pressure and submission style, he set the pace and differences in the fight from the first ring of the bell. He cared little about having an opponent 10 centimeters taller and with greater arm reach in front of him. He always sought to shorten the ring, forcing him to engage in the exchange of blows and friction. Something that bothered Hitching, who constantly appealed to his elusive style, based on jabs and few combinations.
Aware of what was at stake, Lemos made the power of his hands prevail and forced Hitchins to constantly tie up to survive his punishment. Especially in the second half of the fight. Because as the American did everything possible to dirty the fight due to the passivity of referee Raúl Caíz Junior, the Tresarroyense was the one who put in the most and best combinations. In fact, in the eighth round, he applied a right cross to Hitchins’ head that sent him to his corner and conditioned his performance until the end.
The only moments in which the Argentine suffered from the American’s power came in the sixth, seventh and tenth rounds, when he suffered harsh replies from his right hands that managed to stop his momentum and he lost precision in his blows. Even so, Tito managed to overcome in the following laps and complicate Hitchins with insistent blows to the face. Motivated by the physical decline of the venue, the Argentine accentuated his dominance, but lacked the justice to take him out before the limit.
The last laps were frictional and a little tighter in the development of the actions. But also the sum of the points, which must be done in each round, after analyzing the work of the Argentine and the American, had to show a clear advantage for Lemos. But neither Tito, nor the millions of Argentines who watched it on television, nor the commentators on the ESPN broadcast had the criteria of Messrs. Tin Cheatham, Max De Luca and Steve Weisfel, who agreed, to the misfortune of Argentine boxing, in surrendering his honor with a highly controversial ruling in favor of Richardson Hitchins. The La Nación card scored 116-112 in favor of Lemos.
Although this defeat does not allow Eléctrico Lemos to become the mandatory challenger to the IBF super lightweight world title, held by the Puerto Rican Subriel Matías, his meritorious performance in the ring at the Bleaulive Theater of the Fontainebleau Hotel opens the doors to a new presentation in Mecca and positions him as a potential rival to the heavy names that currently run the business of the category, such as Davin Haney, WBC monarch, Garvonta Davis and Isaac Cruz, WBA super champion and regular champion, and Teófimo López, holder of the OMB.
Now the obligation of their handlers, Osvaldo, Georgina and Sebastián Rivero, will be to negotiate an immediate rematch with the FIB authorities. And at the same time, Gustavo “Tito” Lemos must reconsider his spirit, work hard again in the gym and avoid being the victim of another controversial failure when the new opportunity appears. Because, unfortunately, many times success in boxing is subject to the interests of the people who act as jurors.
The unanimous ruling cards
The Gauto “Airplane” did not take off
In the semi-distance fight of the evening held at the Fontainebleu Hotel in Las Vegas, the Buenos Aires native Agustín Gauto lost by TKO, in the 8th round, against the British invite Galal Yafay and was unable to win the international flyweight title of the World Boxing Council . Thus the boxer from Lanús added the second defeat in his second trip abroad. In April 2022 he was knocked out by the Filipino Miel Fajardo, in Dubai.
Despite having some favorable moments in rounds five and six, Gauto was widely surpassed by the technical and boxing background of the British Yafai, who severely punished him for six of the eight rounds that the fight lasted. With this defeat, Avion Gauto was left with a record of 21 wins (15 KO) and two losses. Meanwhile, Yafay, Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020, raised his immaculate record to seven wins (5KO).