Witter looking at Torres or Bradley

Denied his big break in the United States when Demetrius Hopkins backed out a bout and sidestepped by Ricky Hatton, Junior Witter, the WBC light-welterweight champion, is now looking at a possible unification bout against Ricardo Torres, the WBO champion in the summer.

The 28-year-old from Colombia, is on a two-man shortlist for Witter's next opponent with Timothy Bradley, the unbeaten American who became the WBC's mandatory contender when Jose Luis Castillo failed to make the weight for their recent eliminator.

Torres had been mentioned as a possible future opponent for Hatton. There had been talks for him to box in the chief support when Hatton faces Juan Lazcano in Manchester on May 24 - a bout that is close to selling out. The plan would then be for Hatton and Torres to meet in the autumn. However, Paulie Malignaggi, the IBF champion, appears to have been given the job, leaving Torres, like Witter, without an obvious next fight.

Mick Hennessy, Witter's promoter, is hoping that Witter, who last boxed in September when he flattened Vivian Harris in Doncaster, will face either Torres or Bradley in June.

Witter should have been facing Hopkins in California next Saturday, a bout that would have been shown live on HBO in the US. But Hopkins pulled out after an a row with his uncle, Bernard Hopkins, who is a partner in Golden Boy, the show's promoters.

Still, despite having become the division's most-avoided man, Witter's way forward is not as blocked as it may seem and he will take a big interest in this weekend's action in Cardiff, when Gavin Rees defends the WBA title against Andreas Kotelnik. Witter has already beaten Kotelnik, while a Rees win  would set up an all-British unification bout.