Gustavo Lemos left everything against Richardson Hitchins in Las Vegas but lost on points in a controversial ruling

Gustavo Lemos He left everything in the early hours of this Sunday before Richardson Hitchins, but a controversial ruling by the judges, who awarded the victory on points to the American, prevented him from being given the possibility of fighting for a world title. The Argentinian was unfairly left empty-handed in Las Vegasdespite being the main protagonist of the undefeated duel that he had with an excessively conservative rival.

Lemos was the only one who seemed determined to win at the Bleaulive Theater of the Fontainebleau Hotel, where not only the number one in the super lightweight ranking of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) was at stake, but also the possibility of facing the Puerto Rican Subriel Matías for the title of that entity, after the current monarch fulfills other commitments.

However, despite the development clearly favorable to the people of Buenos Airesthe judges unanimously saw Hitchins as the winner, signing one card of 117-111 and two others of 115-113.

The American tried to maintain distance with the jab from the beginning, even extending his left arm more than necessary. The boxer from Tres Arroyos, meanwhile, sought by all means to locate the gap to filter a blow from various angles.

Thanks to that clearly offensive posture, Lemos was able to achieve that objective with dangerous connections on the face of his rival, who repeatedly responded with ties towards the Argentine, so that he did not progress.

The first four rounds were clearly favorable for Lemos, who then took a break due to initial exhaustion to return with everything in the eighth and besiege a Hitchins who felt the blows. Proof of this was that he accentuated his strategy of engaging in combat and avoiding confrontation.

The last third of the fight passed in the same way, with the Argentine attacking and the American betting on the clock running, rarely leaving his defensive strategy behind.

The development allowed one to imagine another decision by the judges and that is why, after the verdict was made official, a murmur of disapproval was heard from ring side.

Eléctrico, born 26 years ago in the Ruta 3 Sur neighborhood of Tres Arroyos and a former construction worker, had already been half a step away from a fight for an IBF title, an organization based in New Jersey.

In March 2022, after knocking out Welsh veteran Lee Selby at Luna Park, he became the number one contender for the lightweight crown, which at that time was held by Australian George Kambosos.

However, that lawsuit was postponed because the Oceanic had agreed to a unification duel with the American Devin Haney and thus the Buenos Aires native entered a 21-month pause in which extremely inconvenient situations arose.

For example, in July 2022 he was arrested by Buenos Aires Police personnel for resisting authority after a street incident in the center of his hometown. Then, he suffered an injury to one of his hands that prevented him from hitting normally for almost a semester.

And when his return seemed a fact, already installed in the super lightweight division, he exceeded the category limit by four kilos (63,500 kilos) at the weigh-in for a fight against Javier Clavero from Córdoba, scheduled for August 18, 2023 in the Luna Park. The fight was canceled and, a few days later, the IBF excluded him from its rankings.

Tito’s reappearance only occurred on December 15, after 629 days of unwanted stoppage. That night, in the ring set up at the Corrientes and Bouchard Coliseum, he worked just 40 seconds to knock out Clavero.

A couple of weeks later, the IBF reinstated him in its ranking: it ranked him eighth among super lightweights. And in February he promoted him to the seventh step. From that position he challenged Hitchins this morning.

In another of the fights that made up this evening in Las Vegas, the Buenos Aires native Agustín Gauto could not against the undefeated British Gala Yafaiwho defeated him by technical knockout in the eighth round and successfully defended the international flyweight title of the World Boxing Council (WBC).

The boxer born in Lanús, 26 years old, faced the most demanding challenge of his professional career at the Bleaulive Theater of the Fontainebleau Hotel, before one of the great hopes of British boxing, who won the gold medal in Tokyo 2020 in his stage. amateur.

Gauto resisted in his sixth presentation abroad until the left-handed Yafai, 31, landed a series of blows with 25 seconds left before the bell, which led him to lower his guard and forced the referee of the match to declare the final.