{"id":194514,"date":"2026-04-12T16:50:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T16:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/194514\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T16:50:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T16:50:36","slug":"ibf-champ-hitchins-withdraws-from-garcia-barrios-co-main","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/194514\/","title":{"rendered":"IBF Champ Hitchins Withdraws from Garcia-Barrios Co-Main"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AHitchins’ withdrawal from the Garcia-Barrios co-main exposes the complexities of weight management in high-stakes boxing matches.Brooklyn Today<\/p>\n

Richardson Hitchins, the undefeated IBF 140-pound champion, has withdrawn from his co-main event fight against Duarte on the Garcia-Barrios card. Hitchins fell ill after the weigh-in, vomiting and deciding he could not compete. The IBF enforces a strict rehydration limit on fight day, which Hitchins had previously struggled with.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

Hitchins’ withdrawal is a major blow to the stacked Garcia-Barrios PPV card, which was set to feature two world title fights. The rehydration rules have been a point of contention, as fighters must carefully manage their weight to avoid missing the limit and being pulled from bouts.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) had been scheduled to defend his IBF junior welterweight title against Duarte in the co-main event slot. However, after the weigh-in on Friday, Hitchins fell ill and began vomiting, ultimately deciding he could not compete. The IBF enforces a rehydration limit of no more than 10 pounds above the 140-pound division limit on the morning of the fight, a rule Hitchins had previously struggled with.<\/p>\n

Hitchins was scheduled to fight on the Garcia-Barrios PPV card on April 12, 2026.Hitchins withdrew from the fight after falling ill following the weigh-in on April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Richardson Hitchins<\/p>\n

The undefeated IBF 140-pound champion who was forced to withdraw from his co-main event fight due to illness.<\/p>\n

Duarte<\/p>\n

Hitchins’ scheduled opponent in the co-main event on the Garcia-Barrios PPV card.<\/p>\n

Mario Barrios<\/p>\n

The WBC welterweight champion who is the headliner of the Garcia-Barrios PPV event.<\/p>\n

Ryan Garcia<\/a><\/p>\n

The challenger to Barrios’ WBC welterweight title in the main event of the Garcia-Barrios PPV.<\/p>\n

Daryl Peoples<\/p>\n

The president of the IBF, who did not respond to a request for comment on Hitchins’ withdrawal.<\/p>\n

Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cI gained a lot of experience from that fight, especially with the way I rehydrated. It showed me that rehydrating the wrong way can almost cost you a fight, and I think that fight was closer than it should have been. I made it look closer than it should have been because of fatigue in the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Richardson Hitchins, IBF 140-pound champion<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

The judge in Hitchins’ case will decide on Tuesday whether to allow him out on bail pending a potential rescheduled fight.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

Hitchins’ withdrawal highlights the challenges fighters face in managing weight and rehydration limits, which can have major impacts on high-profile events. This incident raises questions about the fairness and enforcement of these rules, as well as the need for fighter safety to be the top priority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a Hitchins’ withdrawal from the Garcia-Barrios co-main exposes the complexities of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-194514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}