Witter gets Euro shot on 02/06/04

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 27 May 2004, 10:12

Will this actually happen this time though?

From the BBC web-site-

Junior Witter will get a crack at the vacant European light welterweight belt when he fights Salvatore Battaglia on the same card as Carl Froch on 2 June.

Witter was due to fight Battaglia in April, only for the Italian to withdraw minutes before the weigh-in.

"I am going to be taking a whole lot of frustration out," said Witter, 30.

"I want that title more than ever now. It will provide me with the perfect platform from which to launch an attack on the world stage."

Witter - who has 28 wins, one loss and two draws to his name - is chasing a shot at Ricky Hatton's WBU title.

"Battaglia is the Italian national champion, has fought in 12 title fights and only lost twice," Witter said.

"He is a top-class operator and is going to be in good shape, but I am going to come through - and in style.

"This is about taking the next step towards genuine world honours and as I have said before, flying the flag for Britain."

J · Post by J » 27 May 2004, 10:16

who cares witter gets on my tits.
i used to like him til he made a career out of calling out hatton instead of boxing.

DOG · Post by **DOG** » 27 May 2004, 10:29

J wrote:who cares witter gets on my tits.
i used to like him til he made a career out of calling out hatton instead of boxing.

I reckon he was paid by someone to do that mate.
To try and hype up the promised Hatton Witter clash at Maine Road last summer.

Or is that me being cynical as usual

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 27 May 2004, 10:32

Witter just needs to go on his own path to glory.

buzz · Post by **buzz** » 27 May 2004, 10:40

J wrote:who cares witter gets on my tits.
i used to like him til he made a career out of calling out hatton instead of boxing.

He was pissed off coz Fronk Wigwam was spending all his time and money marketing Hatton and left Witter in the dark.

Thought he could have handled it a differn't way though.

J · Post by J » 27 May 2004, 10:44

whatever he aint fought anyone of note for 2 years and still mouths off.
talk is cheap.
If you wanna prove it make hatton fight you by taking out decent fighters not the below par level his been fighting of late then blasting them out and shouting about it.
Everyone criticises hatton but Pederson is a better name than anyone witter has fought since Judah.

seems thers one rule for one and one rule for another to me.

I will critiicise hatton but i'll criticse witter more cos he should just shut up and let his talking be done in the ring.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 27 May 2004, 10:54

It's weird because Witter has been in the ring with a fighter miles better than anything Hatton has faced and lasted 12 rounds, i know he did a marathon during the match but at least he was in there and got the experience.

J · Post by J » 27 May 2004, 10:58

so he shit himself and legged it for 12 rounds, sorry stevo but big deal.
what has he done since, adrian stone once got in the ring with shane mosely and lost dont make him de la hoya does it...(sorry crass example but you get my drift).

I dont mind people championing witter but at least be consistent, dont make out Junior has stepped it up cos he aint. in my opinion he has gone backwards at a rate of knots.
The only time he makes the press is when he is slagging off hatton which is piss poor in my view.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 27 May 2004, 11:11

Yeah come on mate, big deal, Witter made like Haile Gebreselassie for 12 rounds, that's no fornicating achievement. It was a totally negative performance, and a big fornicating mistake on Jr's part as it effectively got him banned from showtime for what appears to be life.

Junior Witter has talent, but he hasn't done SHIT since losing to Judah, his best win was a 6 rounder over Jan Bergman early in his career, and a win over Giusseppe Lauri.

I hope Witter does well, as he has talent, but for christ's sake, forget Hatton, get on with your own career, and embarass him with your fists and not your mouth, it just comes across as sour grapes otherwise, and there's no way in god's earth Hatton is going to risk his lofty status against someone with as low a profile as Witter, not when he can sell 16,000 tickets for fighting someone like Rios or Pedersen.

So if Hatton got in the ring with Kostya Tszyu and held him in a vice like grip for 12 rounds, that would make him the daddy I suppose.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 27 May 2004, 11:19

While I believe Hatton has a far superior resume to that of Witter I do believe it's harsh to totally bash Juniors performance against Judah. For 4 rounds it was an even fight with Witter looking right at home in there with one of the worlds best, it was only after that when we saw the difference in conditioning come into play.

Junior had a choice, get beaten to shit rags or run. He chose the later and is probably a fresher (if less marketable) fighter today because of it.

Make no mistake Junior Witter can go places yet.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 27 May 2004, 11:23

I just think that Witter's focus on Hatton has been to the detriment of his own career, it's time for him to forget Hatton.

If he gets his act together he could leave Hatton behind him, the problem is however, that he has very little following, and therefore it is hard to make a case for staging a world title fight, which champion is going to put the belt and balls on the line against someone who cannot fill an area, and who doesn't bring much to the table.

Jr really needs to make a name for himself fast.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 27 May 2004, 11:26

steve689 wrote:It's weird because Witter has been in the ring with a fighter miles better than anything Hatton has faced and lasted 12 rounds, i know he did a marathon during the match but at least he was in there and got the experience.

If you read my post then you will see i merely stated that he had been in with a better fighter than any of Hatton's foes and that it was world championship experience...those are facts not opinions. I agree he ran for 12 rounds but so what? At least he got in there.

J · Post by J » 27 May 2004, 11:30

and mine and james point (i think dont mean to speak for you Mr Mc but dont think im wrong in assuming) is...so what..........

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 27 May 2004, 11:33

And Kilburns point is.. Witter ran for 8 rounds not 12. 8)

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 27 May 2004, 11:36

That ridiculous, there's no credit for getting in there if it's only to survive, he would have been better advised to not take the fight surely, I don't know if his arm was twisted into taking it or not, but that fight effectively consigned him to the 'unfavoured' bin for Sports Network, and wrote off his further appearances on showtime.

If he'd gone out on his shield at least he would have been given credit for making a fight of it against a vastly more experienced foe. As for being ruined, well, did Azumah Nelson get ruined by Salvador Sanchez, similar situation, late notice, very inexperienced, difference was, he took it as a chance to shine, rather than to survive.

I'm not saying Witter is a coward, I just think it was a bad judgement call on his part.

J · Post by J » 27 May 2004, 11:39

im just gonna sat "so what" to everything cos im in a belligerent mood

thinks its come from some idiot on the current scene trying to tell me he kicked a bag with water and cement in it when training in martial arts.

yeah right wax on wax off.

nonsense

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 27 May 2004, 11:43

If a tiring Witter had said right sod it I'll make it a war then EVER clever bugger afterwards would have been calling him a dickhead (albeit a brave dickhead) for not using his footwork to stay out of trouble.

J · Post by J » 27 May 2004, 11:44

so you dont think that witter has been fighting sub standard oppoenents and making noises off hattons back then Kil?

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 27 May 2004, 11:47

Yeah that's right, Fred Kinuthia is the perfect step up to world class competition. It may be that Witter couldn't get the fights he wanted through Sport Network, but the truth is, he needs to get his ass in the ring with some top 20 fighters, let alone top 10.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 27 May 2004, 11:49

J wrote:so you dont think that witter has been fighting sub standard oppoenents and making noises off hattons back then Kil?

Hey probably so. My only argument concerns his performance against Judah which I believe was not all bad.

At least by this time next week he'll be European champ which is better than a kick in the bollex.

J · Post by J » 27 May 2004, 11:50

fair enough. still think he has a lot to prove and would much prefer it if he just went about his business and left hatton alone.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 27 May 2004, 11:54

Kilburn wrote:
J wrote:so you dont think that witter has been fighting sub standard oppoenents and making noises off hattons back then Kil?
Hey probably so. My only argument concerns his performance against Judah which I believe was not all bad.

At least by this time next week he'll be European champ which is better than a kick in the bollex.

I totally agree, i aint trying to defend Witter by any means, he is making a noise off Hatton's back but i was just giving him respect for fighting and surviving with a world class operator.

J · Post by J » 27 May 2004, 11:58

so what haha ok ok sounds like we are singing form a similar hymn sheet and even if we aint, so what

Twinkle Toes · Post by **Twinkle Toes** » 27 May 2004, 12:19

A must win fight for Witter this one.

The european belt is a good belt to hold, but Witter has been inactive of late. The Kinutha, and Hall fights where ridiculous, and the fight before that he was wobbled by a light punching Jurgen Haeck.

I expect him to beat Battaglia, and that is a decent 'name' to have on his resume. It will be interesting to see what direction he takes after this fight.