Junior Witter v Matthew Hatton

[TheCobra]

Let's face it , pre-Tszyu Hatton was your typical Warren fighter, fed some pretty easy pickings to pad a record and admittedly built up a great KO % with his excellent body punching. Then as other have said, once you have got a decent belt, why then risk it against a guy who brings zero ticket/box office sales but is awkward and dangerous.

Why would anyone risk themselves on someone like that, the risks are you could end up in a stinker of a fight against a negative, awkard guy, with only your fans who've paid to watch it and even risk being KO'd for your trouble. I don't blame Hatton for not taking the fight tbh and think all the talk has LONG since got very boring. The only shots Witter got at belts to my knowledge were when he was mandatory or when he was a last minute replacement, so it's not just Hatton who avoided him is it!

[oliverfennell]

Exactly! Aldo Rios and Justin Rowsell also rank highly on the "boxers who blokes down the pub recognise" meter too.

Nuff said

Oh right so you're complaining Hatton didnt fight witter back in 2002 odd, really, who cares? Its what people do when they make it big people care about - was witter worth fighting after he beat tszyu? no. Was he worth risking a shot at the big time before then? no.

Yes, I'm complaining that Hatton didn't fight Witter in 2002.

And 2000, and 2001, and 2003, and 2004, (he gets a pass in 2005 for Tszyu), and 2006, (pass in 2007 for Castillo and Mayweather) and 2008. In any of those years, you can find lesser names than Witter on Hatton's record.

[Chambers2]

Oh right so you're complaining Hatton didnt fight witter back in 2002 odd, really, who cares?

yes, me and most of the British boxing fraternity going by the forums at the time and the newspapers and Steve bunce Boxing hour and....

Its what people do when they make it big people care about - was witter worth fighting after he beat tszyu? no

Yes, Witter was WBC champ post Tszyu and Hatton chose to fight non-Champions rather than take on Witter. Witter was more credible than Collazo, Urango, the faded Castillo, Lazcano and Paulie

Was he worth risking a shot at the big time before then? no.

You sound more like a promoter than a boxing fan, I like boxers to fight their arch-rivals rather than come up with BS excuses.

Bottom line is Hatton knew he'd get beat by Junior, so refused to fight him whilst making up numerous excuses.

[TheCobra]

Oh right so you're complaining Hatton didnt fight witter back in 2002 odd, really, who cares?

yes, me and most of the British boxing fraternity going by the forums at the time and the newspapers and Steve bunce Boxing hour and....

Its what people do when they make it big people care about - was witter worth fighting after he beat tszyu? no

Yes, Witter was WBC champ post Tszyu and Hatton chose to fight non-Champions rather than take on Witter. Witter was more credible than Collazo, Urango, the faded Castillo, Lazcano and Paulie

Was he worth risking a shot at the big time before then? no.

You sound more like a promoter than a boxing fan, I like boxers to fight their arch-rivals rather than come up with BS excuses.

Bottom line is Hatton knew he'd get beat by Junior, so refused to fight him whilst making up numerous excuses.

Just get over it mate, Hatton carved out a great career, built his name up, got the fans and got the BIG fights against Mayweather and Pacquiao. Who was the biggest name Witter ever faced? Was the Witter fight really that big a fight outide of the UK, when Hatton was going stateside and trying to build his name up so he could fight Mayweather? I would suggest not.

[DavidPayne]

There was a point when Witter was THE fight and it would have been massive. In the prelude to Kostya Tsyzu when Hatton was crying out for a challenge as he went through the motions against Pederson etc when the Harris-Spadafora fights fell through.

He conceded post fight after one of those that he was unmotivated and frustrated.

Beyond that, Witter then won a WBC belt, making him more viable but admittedly then at a time when Hatton was trying to establish his US PPV credentials. Witter wouldn't have helped and was too risky.

But before the Tszyu fight...it should have happened.

[Finn]

Trying to justify a witter v hatton, is like trying to justify murray v khan. Yeah it would have been a good fight but Khan had absolutely nothing to gain and nobody outside of british fight fans even cared about the fight.

[Chambers2]

Just get over it mate

I'm well over it (although it took a while), it just annoys me when so called British Boxing fans try and make out that Ricky was right to Duck Junior for all that time. It would've been a Great fight for British Boxing (fcuk the yanks), biggest since Benn-Eubank IMO

[Counter-puncher]

i think there's a difference between saying that it's right, and just resignedly accepting the way things are though chambers?

[Chambers2]

just resignedly accepting the way things are though chambers?

Thats' never been my forte.

I'm repeatedly told that i'm stubborn, but I point blank refuse to accept it

[Counter-puncher]

i'd never have noticed don't worry

[doctorboxing]

Trying to justify a witter v hatton, is like trying to justify murray v khan. Yeah it would have been a good fight but Khan had absolutely nothing to gain and nobody outside of british fight fans even cared about the fight.

I would have thought personal pride at proving he genuinely was the best lightweight in the UK (as he kept saying he was) would have been enough and it would have been a far bigger fight for Khan than Gary St Clair, Martin Kritjansen (spelling?) or even Bredis Prescott. I understand why promoters shield their assets from tough fights, it makes sense, but fans shouldn't have to accept it. Very few other sports allow the best competitors to avoid each other for their whole careers.

Could you imagine if Tennis created two separate tournaments at every grand slam, so Nadal and Federer could both win without having to play each other?

[TheCobra]

Trying to justify a witter v hatton, is like trying to justify murray v khan. Yeah it would have been a good fight but Khan had absolutely nothing to gain and nobody outside of british fight fans even cared about the fight.

I would have thought personal pride at proving he genuinely was the best lightweight in the UK (as he kept saying he was) would have been enough and it would have been a far bigger fight for Khan than Gary St Clair, Martin Kritjansen (spelling?) or even Bredis Prescott. I understand why promoters shield their assets from tough fights, it makes sense, but fans shouldn't have to accept it. Very few other sports allow the best competitors to avoid each other for their whole careers.

Could you imagine if Tennis created two separate tournaments at every grand slam, so Nadal and Federer could both win without having to play each other?

Boxings version of Nadal Federer is surely Mayweather and Pacquiao. There is one british boxer who has fought them both and one who can only dream of getting those sorts of fights.

[oliverfennell]

Trying to justify a witter v hatton, is like trying to justify murray v khan. Yeah it would have been a good fight but Khan had absolutely nothing to gain and nobody outside of british fight fans even cared about the fight.

And again... again and again...

I suppose loads of people outside of British fights fans cared about (starting from Witter's infamous calling-out of Hatton in the aftermath of the Thaxton fight): Pep, Rowland, Bailey, Pendleton, Rowsell, Krivolapov, Smith, Huchinson, Rios, Tackie, Pedersen, Vilches, Stewart, Oliveira, Urango, Lazcano?

NONE of those names were a) more marketable b) better known, or c) higher ranked than Witter at the times of the fights. It could even be argued that Witter was a bigger fight than Magee, Phillips, Maussa, Colazzo or Malignaggi, although admittedly they did all at least have a definable purpose.

[Chambers2]

Trying to justify a witter v hatton, is like trying to justify murray v khan. Yeah it would have been a good fight but Khan had absolutely nothing to gain and nobody outside of british fight fans even cared about the fight.

I would have thought personal pride at proving he genuinely was the best lightweight in the UK (as he kept saying he was) would have been enough and it would have been a far bigger fight for Khan than Gary St Clair, Martin Kritjansen (spelling?) or even Bredis Prescott. I understand why promoters shield their assets from tough fights, it makes sense, but fans shouldn't have to accept it. Very few other sports allow the best competitors to avoid each other for their whole careers.

Could you imagine if Tennis created two separate tournaments at every grand slam, so Nadal and Federer could both win without having to play each other?

Boxings version of Nadal Federer is surely Mayweather and Pacquiao. There is one british boxer who has fought them both and one who can only dream of getting those sorts of fights.

He was easy-pickings for BIG $£$£$££$'s

[Chambers2]

And again... again and again...

It's hard work at times

[Undefeated]

No one with a surname 'HATTON' has the guts to face a WITTER. It is a pity, but money means more to Hatton than anything.

Both 2010 Hattons get knocked out.