Eddie Hearn believes Richardson Hitchins will be a problem for any of the leading 140-pounders.

Hitchins is a 26-year-old from New York who is 17-0 (7 KOs) as a pro and he boxes Argentine Gustavo Lemos, 29-0 (19 KOs) at the new Fontainebleau in Las Vegas on Saturday on DAZN. It is the first sporting event to be held at the dapper, plush new venue.

Hitchins has gone the 10 and 12-round distance in his last two fights, and in September dominated veteran Jose Zepeda for a lop-sided points win.

“Richardson Hitchins has got a lot to say for himself, and rightly so,” Hearn told the Matchroom Boxing channel. “I think this kid is right up there. I mean, you look at our 140-pund roster, it’s on fire. You’ve got Devin Haney, Devin’s fighting Ryan Garcia in a couple of weeks, you’ve got Subriel Matias, you’ve got Jack Catterall fighting Josh Taylor, you’ve got Regis Prograis, you’ve got Liam Paro, who’s facing Matias, you’ve got Dalton Smith coming through. So many others as well. Richardson Hitchins is right there.

“This [Lemos] fight is a final eliminator for the IBF title. It gives him the shot against Matias, he’s ranked highly with the WBC, he’s in a brilliant spot. He wants to fight Haney, he wants to fight ‘Tank’, he wants to fight Matias, he wants to fight Prograis, he wants to fight absolutely everyone.”

Hitchins made his debut in New York in 2017 on a bill headlined by Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia. Now Hitchins headlines in his own right in Las Vegas, and Hearn is high on Hitchins.

“This kid is for real; the real deal,” Hearn added. “And [it’s a] great fight this weekend against Lemos, who’s 29-0, both undefeated fighters, a really good style match-up, this is the night for Richardson Hitchins to really propel himself onto the world stage.”

Hitchins is outspoken and wants all the smoke at 140lbs. That’s another thing his promoter is happy about. Hitchins is standing up to be counted and getting his own name out there.

“I love it. Call them all out. Call them what you want,” Hearn smiled. “Post about them all day. Because it’s creating noise, it’s creating narrative and people like Richardson Hitchins, because he’s so good, you’ve got to have something else. He’s slick, he’s explosive, he’s exciting but, these guys aren’t going to want to face you because you’re really good. So make some noise. Get people’s attention. Get people tuned in, and he’s doing that.

“And he believes in himself. He really does. He believes he can beat everybody at 140lbs and I think it’s going to be an interesting situation if he comes through Saturday first. It’s not an easy fight.”

Hitchins might be inviting pressure on himself, but the words only count if the actions back them up.

“You can talk all you want,” Hearn admitted. “But if you don’t perform… [but] this [Hitchins] is a guy who is prepared to talk himself up, put that pressure on him to see him perform, and Lemos will bring it.”