Junior witter
gaining respect the old fashioned way – by earning it

by Jake Donovan
FightBeat.com President

It has been five years since Junior Witter accepted a last minute title fight against Zab Judah on short notice. On a night where Mike Tyson nearly knocked out a referee and threaten to eat Lennox Lewis’ (non-existent) children, Junior Witter nearly knocked himself off of the boxing map by turning in a listless performance in the co-feature.

Ignored was the fact that he was short both in ring experience (four years, seventeen fights) and notice (he accepted the fight about a week or so before) heading into the fight. In boxing, the only thing people pay attention to is the bottom line. And the bottom line was that the fight stunk out the joint, and Witter played a significant role.

Junior accepts what went down that night and that he had to do a lot to redeem himself in the public eye. What the top-rated junior welterweight challenger doesn’t understand is why his achievements have gone largely unnoticed throughout the boxing world.

The difference: he is no longer consumed with pleasing all of the people all of the time. The new bottom line is that he is now a top rated contender among all of the alphabet organizations, and a shot at one of the titles is guaranteed for 2006.

A title shot is of course contingent upon his getting past Colin Lynes this Friday night in London (October 21, 10:00PM UK time, Sky Sports). That, more so than how he can disprove his critics, is what is on his mind heading into this weekend. Some will say that he is taking an unnecessary risk by accepting a fight when he’s already guaranteed a title shot next year. According to Junior, it’s only a risk when you don’t focus on the task at hand.

“There’s always a risk whenever you step into the ring,” insists Witter (32-1-2, 19KO). Accepting this fight is no different than accepting any other. I want to stay active, and remind people what “The Hitter” is all about. This is the way to do it, not by sitting around and wishing for an opportunity to come around to you.”

Witter learned the hard way that an opportunity which presents itself when least expected isn’t always the best opportunity. Since losing to Judah, “The Hitter” has won fifteen straight, including thirteen straight inside the distance immediately following the lone loss of his career.

Over on this side of the Atlantic, such a comeback would be embraced, with said fighter praised for his out-of-the-resiliency in punching his way back to the top. But such has not been the case for Witter. Instead, naysayers have insisted that his win streak has been littered with cannon fodder.

Such an argument should have been dispelled the moment he twice floored divisional measuring stick Lovemore N’Dou en route to a unanimous decision this past February. It was the first time in five years that Witter was extended the distance. It was also a fight where he would dominate before fracturing his mitt midway through. N’Dou was able to take advantage of the injury as well as Witter’s decreasing activity level and put some rounds away toward the middle of the fight. But Witter sucked it up late in the fight, and closed strong to beat an opponent who managed to cause fits for the likes of Sharmba Mitchell and Miguel Cotto.

Those still looking to criticize would have to wait five months later, which was Witter’s last fight to date. This past July, Junior was met with a tougher than expected challenge in barely outlasting Andreas Kotelnik in Nottingham. Witter started out strong, but once again faded toward the second half of the fight. This time, there were no knockdowns to make up the difference in a close fight. Witter was forced to settle for a close unanimous decision and an outcry afterward that he allegedly received a gift.

“I got hit in that fight far too often, and concede that it was closer than how one of the judges had it (117-111). But the other two had it by single point. It can’t get any closer than that, so I don’t see where a robbery can be suggested. It was a close fight that I pulled out. End of story.”

Team Kotelnik believed otherwise, insisting their charge won no fewer than eight of the twelve rounds. The immediate cries of “robbery” soon disappeared, however, and little more was made of the fight. Instead, it further dispelled the notion that Witter was lining up creampuffs. The worst that could be said was that Junior failed to stop N’Dou and Kotelnik, both of who are considered much better than the thirteen Witter managed to flatten.

But such a claim is countered by the fact that he twice dropped the normally durable N’Dou, which lends credence to the claim that Witter is a much bigger puncher than he was prior to and during the Judah fight. It also lends credence to the claim that he has evolved into a top fighter in the past five years. For Witter, the loss was what it was – a learning experience.

“If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t have taken the fight on such little notice,” says Witter. “But I’m glad that things turned out the way they did. I look back, and I took it on a week’s notice as a novice in the game. It taught me a lot by going that route. People are realizing that, and the sanctioning bodies finally give me the credit that I deserve based on what I’ve been able to achieve since then.”

Even for those who elect to ignore the alphabets, there is no denying the fact that Witter is clearly a top contender in the junior welterweight division. Any publication who offers rankings of sorts cannot make an argument for any more than six or seven fighters who deserve to be rated higher at 140 than the Bradford product (FightBeat.com presently has him ranked #5).

This being a business where title defenses are dictated – for the most part – by said organization’s rankings, Witter needn’t worry how the media rates him. The WBC has him ranked as their number one contender, and have ordered a box-off between he and Gianluca Branco for the right to face Floyd Mayweather in 2006.

Witter and Branco were ordered to square off earlier this year, but Witter instead fought N’Dou when Branco backed out of the fight three weeks prior. Backing out of fights is what Branco seems to do best – he also pulled out of a potential fight with Miguel Cotto this past September. Cotto instead faced and defeated WBO mandatory challenger Ricardo Torres in a thriller.

Oddly enough, Witter also had a chance to face Cotto – he was offered the fight on three week’s notice once Branco pulled out. Some would view the opportunity as an instant shot at fame. For Junior, been there, done that. No need to allow history to repeat itself.

“It was never a consideration,” Witter said of the late offer. “I worked too hard and too long to get here. It would be like running a marathon and then diving across the finish line. It makes no sense to throw away what I worked so hard to achieve.”

Witter has learned to become patient through the years. The loss to Judah was not the only learning experience he endured in the past five years. Despite demand building for a fight with longtime rival and present junior welterweight king Ricky Hatton, Witter could never manage any better than co-feature act for any of his fight cards.

After years of believing that he would eventually score a super fight, Witter gave up hope. He also gave up on promoter Frank Warren, defecting from Sports Network and winding up with Mick Hennessy. The wins kept coming after life with Warren, as did a new opportunity – a strong alliance with a stateside powerhouse.

The N’Dou fight landed on the under card of Bernard Hopkins’ middleweight defense against Howard Eastman, who along with Witter is promoted by Hennessy. Mick Hennessy worked out a partnership deal with Oscar de la Hoya, which would allow Golden Boy Promotions to promoter Witter’s stateside fights. Though the February bout was his long appearance in the states, Golden Boy Promotions has insisted that it will not be his last. Not only that, but his next trip will feature a far greater reward.

“Assuming he beats Lynes Friday, his next fight will be for a world title or an eliminator,” insisted Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez. “He’s number one for (WBC champ Floyd) Mayweather’s title, and when the next WBO rankings come out, he will also be mandatory challenger for Miguel Cotto.”

Gomez confirmed that Golden Boy will act on the WBC ordering a Witter-Branco boxoff for the right to fight Mayweather next. He also confirmed that a contingency plan is already in place should Branco manage to revert to old form and once again pass on the fight.

“If Branco decides that he doesn’t want to fight the WBC box-off against Junior, then we’re gunning for Mayweather or Cotto. No ifs, ands or buts. If one or both decide to vacate, then we’re fighting for a vacant title. This kid has fought his way back to the top, and we don’t need to wait around for anyone any longer. He waited forever for Hatton to come around, and that clearly won’t happen any time soon. No more waiting – this kid is going places, and we intend to help get him there the moment he says go.”

Witter is in full agreement, though he already has a preference.

“To be honest, I’d prefer Mayweather. He’s already proven what he’s about. Hatton has had one great night so far. Besides, Ricky’s already proven that he wants no part of me. Floyd has proven that he’s willing to take on all comers, and I’m confident that he would accept my challenge after we’re both through with our next fights. I can’t say the same for Ricky, and he is now all out of excuses.”

The past excuse was that Warren was holding Hatton back, that Ricky would willingly face anyone but was limited to what Warren demanded. Hatton has since left Warren, despite a pending lawsuit which was eventually dropped, and is now with Dennis Hobson’s Fight Academy. The fact that Hatton’s next fight is taking place in Sheffield, where Witter trains, says even less about Ricky’s willingness to make a Witter fight happen anytime soon.

Suffice to say, Witter isn’t buying any more excuses from Team Hatton.

“If he wants to fight me, he could say “I’m in control of my career.” He’s not with Warren anymore, so he can’t use that as an excuse. He has no excuses left, other than that he obviously wants no part of me. If he wants to prove he’s the world champion, he could fight me. It never had to be in Sheffield or Bradford. I’d have just as easily faced him in Manchester, London, or anywhere else. The fact that he’s coming here for his next fight (versus WBA titlist Carlos Maussa) tells you all you need to know. I’ve given up on him long ago. I’m only focusing on what’s in front of me.”

Which brings us back to his fight with Lynes. Witter looks to revert to old form as he plans to take the fight out of the judges’ hands. Lynes’ last two fights have been controversial decisions which many felt should have gone against him. Despite having been extended the distance himself in his past two fights, Witter has no desire to subject himself to controversy of any kind. Besides, Witter insists that Lynes made a mistake the moment he made the fight personal.

“Heading into the fight, I was already aware of his track record for getting close decisions. That was motivation enough to bring out “The Hitter.” But now he’s calling me old (Witter is 31, four years Lynes’ senior). So now I’ll just have to bring him to old school.”

That would be the place where contenders earn their keep the old-fashioned way – in the ring, with their fists. Class has been in session five years and running in Bradford, England.

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