Sport

Witter rules out retirement
by Mark Doyle, 11 May 2008

Witter: beaten

Junior Witter has vowed to box on despite losing his WBC light-welterweight title to Timothy Bradley in Nottingham on Saturday night.

The Bradford fighter dropped a split decision to the undefeated 24-year-old American [115-112, 113-115, 113-114] after a strangely subdued and listless performance.

Indeed, Witter, who was dropped towards the end of the sixth, looked in danger of being stopped in the second half of the bout but he actually felt as if he had been the better man on the night and was unhappy with the judges’ scoring.

"I'm gutted, I can't believe it. I thought I'd done enough to win. I know I had the knockdown but I thought I worked hard enough in the rest of the fight to win comfortably,” the 34-year-old argued on ITV1.

"[But] I don't think you saw the best of me tonight. Timothy Bradley came out and fought and took some good shots. He caught me with a hell of a shot.

"But I was just a bit sloppy. It was a perfect shot. He'd been trying it all night, I knew he was going for it. But I won rounds before it. I won rounds after that.

"I'm still going to carry on, no way am I retiring after that. There's a lot more in the tank. There are better nights for me to come and Junior Witter will be back - as a world champion."

Bradley, meanwhile, was thrilled with his shock victory and believes that Witter paid the price for preoccupying himself with a dream bout with Ricky Hatton in the lead-up to the fight.

"I trained hard I worked hard my whole life to get to this point and I wasn't going to slip up," the 24-year-old Californian stated.

"Junior can say whatever he wants. He fought a hell of a fight but I kept the pressure on.

"I've been watching Junior Witter for a year. I always do my homework. I saw he was susceptible to getting hit with right hands.

"He was thinking about Ricky Hatton. His mind was on Ricky Hatton not on Timothy Bradley."

Bradley said he was now open to the idea of fighting Hatton or even signing for a rematch with Witter.

"I'm a big fan of Ricky Hatton, I love his style," he enthused. "I will give Junior Witter a rematch if the money's right."

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Comments

jason petty - 24 May 2008 23:49: have to remember boxers have very little time to make there money. a fight for witter against hatton will set him up for life. thats why he is obsessed with the fight with hatton.; Report this to a moderator

Marc - 16 May 2008 10:15: I think Brendan Ingle, as usual, was spot on: that was the worst performance of Junior's career. And it happened on the night that Junior needed to produce his best - ITV 1 audience, press and fans on side having realised that Junior wasn't the one avoiding a fight with Hatton, US tv coverage, etc. A tragedy for Junior.; Report this to a moderator

Pizz - 13 May 2008 14:29: Id like him to get a rematch for British boxing. He looked past a classy boxer and got punished, so glad he got shut up by Bradley as he has been clearly over protected from the Judah fight til now and was out boxed by a decent fighter (not world class yet). If he can't get a rematch then he should retire it will take about 2-3yrs to get another title shot and it's time he simply does not have; Report this to a moderator

scubasteve - 12 May 2008 09:34: id like to see him fight kotelnik, then maybe hatton can take those belts back from him after he mashes up paulie; Report this to a moderator

Tom - 11 May 2008 19:34: I dont particulary like him but hope he still goes on a gets a rematch with Bradley. Mainly because although Bradley has set his sights on either Malinaggi or Hatton he wont get either as (presuming they both win in a fortnight) a Hatton v Malinaggi fight seems a certainty. However i can't see it happening as Bradley has made it clear he's only concerned about money and fights against Ricardo Torres or Andreas Kotelnik would probably bring in more money.; Report this to a moderator

Alan - 11 May 2008 16:39: Witter should carry on if he wants to but he must realise now, he is 34 and has never had the big name fights. He can say " Ive been a much avoided fighter " but so has Joe Calzaghe and Joe has gone on to bigger and better things and now has his payday. With no disrespect meant to Bradley as I was very impressed with him last night, Junior didnt lose to a big name fighter and that will always turn off the American public to him. His chance at getting the big payday was knocking out Bradley. The American man is totaly right to say Witter was focused on Hatton but that takes none of the gloss away from a good performance by him. Witter should have kept quiet until after the fight last night to reignite his feud with Hatton and it seems to have cost him in the ultimate way.; Report this to a moderator

jay - 11 May 2008 11:43: i think he should retire, how can he expect to compete with the huge boxers in the division? hatton would knock him out without putting to much effort being put in, go away junior you big fool !!!!!; Report this to a moderator

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