Witter gets his chance to shine

It is a sad fact of British boxing that most people do not know who Junior Witter is beyond being "that guy that Ricky Hatton hates". An even sadder indictment that most boxing fans take it upon themselves to dislike Witter merely as a sign of loyalty to Ricky.
However, while Hatton is using his IBO light-welterweight title (and its handy little rule that mean he can pick and choose whoever he wants to face) as a benefit gig with his upcoming bout against Juan Lazcano, Witter has a very live challenger to his much more prestigious WBC belt in Timothy Bradley, an unbeaten American, on May 10 at the Trent FM Arena, Nottingham. And with ITV1 showing the fight live, he has every chance to make a big statement.

"It's a great chance for me to show a wider audience what I can do and I intend to grab that opportunity and show the world I'm the best light-welterweight in boxing right now," Witter said. "Some people who will have perhaps heard of me but not seen me box will get the chance to see me in action for the first time and they won't be disappointed."

The 24-year-old American is from Palm Springs, California (ironically the city where Witter was due to face Demetrius Hopkins last month, until Hopkins pulled out), and has won all his 21 bouts. Noted for his fast hands and feet, Bradley became the WBC's mandatory contender when Jose Luis Castillo failed to make the weight for an eliminator in Cancun last month. His willingness to face Castillo in Mexico and Witter in Britain marks him out as someone not just looking to defend an unbeaten record.

"Bradley is a top opponent and the better opponent the better I perform… just ask Vivian Harris," Witter, who knocked Harris clean off his feet in his last defence in September, said. "Bradley has got a great knockout ratio as his record suggests, so I expect him to be aggressive and he will come to fight, which is just how I like them."

"After seeing me box in front of a massive TV audience both in the UK and the States, once I do a job on Bradley even more people will be asking: why won't Ricky Hatton fight Junior Witter?"

Comments

[Crashing Dashing Kid]

Good article. I still remember the night Witter crashed Hatton's post fight interview and acted so disrespectfully. What a fight it would be but you get the feeling that if Witter does not have the grace to admit he was a plonker that night, then it will never happen and Witter as well as boxing, will be the poorer for it.

[Ron Lewis]

They have split and will be announcing a new trainer on Thursday. There have been rumours of disquiet since the moment Willie Limond put him on the floor. Apparently the new trainer is British.

[Cpt El Nino]

Witter does himself no favours by constantly going on about his fight with Hatton not being made.

The other week when he said he would fight Hatton for just 30% of the purse was simply a publicity statement, 30% of a fight against Hatton would probably be at least double any other purse Witter has ever fought for.

I can see Witter struggling against a hungry young fighter, although Bradley seems shy on experience if forced to dig deep.

It will be good to see a fight on ITV that isn’t completely one sided and fights like this can only help the sport.

Ps Any more info on Khan parting company with Harrison?

[Naidah]

Yeah, it's a shame Hatton will not entertain Junior Witter, it's a very competitive fight, and a genuine battle between the 2 best light welterweights in the world. Throw into the equation that both guys are British, then it seems ridiculous that this fight hasn't happened. The blame has to lie with Ricky Hatton who doesn't appear to want the fight. Hopefully Witter can make a success out of his career without Hatton, a fight with Torres looks attractive providing Junior beats Bradley.