Why Hatton -Witter never happened

[big lennox]

http://www.BS.com/?m=show&id=34979

Roughly translated, Hatton and his promoter at the time didn't fancy it. Can't blame them. Junior would have cleaned his clock.

[Chambers2]

Hatton and his ego is the reason this fight didn't happen. He couldn't stand the prospect of losing to an under-rated fellow Brit, so he bottled it. He fought bums and faded fighters til the Floyd and Manny fights materialised where he was painfully outclassed on both occassions.


Hattons 10 year ducking of Witter is the worst example of it that the sport has seen, lets hope we never see the likes of it again. In terms of their world rankings in the LWW division this would have been the BIGGEST All-British clash (they were #1 and #2 when the spotty-un cherry-picked Lazcano

[Gazmac81]

I saw this last night and Warren says that tv companys had a lot to say in this
i dont see why Hatton would have feared witter and would have out worked him

yea wish it could have happened at time but its a subject that has been going on for years

Also with the way warren feels about Hatton if the Tv company thing was nt a big factor surely he would have suggested Hatton didnt facny it

http://www.BS.com/?m=show&id=34979

Roughly translated, Hatton and his promoter at the time didn't fancy it. Can't blame them. Junior would have cleaned his clock.

[15829]

Hatton and his ego is the reason this fight didn't happen. He couldn't stand the prospect of losing to an under-rated fellow Brit, so he bottled it. He fought bums and faded fighters til the Floyd and Manny fights materialised where he was painfully outclassed on both occassions.


Hattons 10 year ducking of Witter is the worst example of it that the sport has seen, lets hope we never see the likes of it again. In terms of their world rankings in the LWW division this would have been the BIGGEST All-British clash (they were #1 and #2 when the spotty-un cherry-picked Lazcano

great post

[Exoddus]

Hatton and his ego is the reason this fight didn't happen. He couldn't stand the prospect of losing to an under-rated fellow Brit, so he bottled it. He fought bums and faded fighters til the Floyd and Manny fights materialised where he was painfully outclassed on both occassions.


Hattons 10 year ducking of Witter is the worst example of it that the sport has seen, lets hope we never see the likes of it again. In terms of their world rankings in the LWW division this would have been the BIGGEST All-British clash (they were #1 and #2 when the spotty-un cherry-picked Lazcano

Agree but I would add that Hatton didn't want to give Witter the biggest payday of his career either.

[whiskey]

Agree but I would add that Hatton didn't want to give Witter the biggest payday of his career either.

Correct. It got very personal.

At the end of the day Ricky fought Tszyu, Pac and Floyd - but afraid of Witter ?

It's a shame it never happened - The Homecoming would have been great if vs Witter who had WBC title at the time.

But Ricky was coming off a loss, so perhaps wouldn't have gone straight in there before a tune-up.

Oh well

[Chambers2]

Hatton and his ego is the reason this fight didn't happen. He couldn't stand the prospect of losing to an under-rated fellow Brit, so he bottled it. He fought bums and faded fighters til the Floyd and Manny fights materialised where he was painfully outclassed on both occassions.


Hattons 10 year ducking of Witter is the worst example of it that the sport has seen, lets hope we never see the likes of it again. In terms of their world rankings in the LWW division this would have been the BIGGEST All-British clash (they were #1 and #2 when the spotty-un cherry-picked Lazcano

Agree but I would add that Hatton didn't want to give Witter the biggest payday of his career either.

Yeah that was one of the 3000 excuses Hattons used to not fight Witter. It was a strange excuse though as most fighters would say "I'll shut this mouthy little fcuker up once and for all in the ring", but Hattons focus was on not letting Witter get a payday...... that says alot about Ricky IMO

[Chambers2]

At the end of the day Ricky fought Tszyu, Pac and Floyd - but afraid of Witter ?

Come on Gomez, you know that's far from the full story. There was no disgrace in losing to Floyd or Manny plus Ricky would land a > £10m for his troubles, where as if Ricky would have lost to the pretty much unknown Witter he'd have gone from being one of the best in the world to not even being the best in Britain.

Rickys matchmaking philospophy throughout his career = risk:REWARD, which is great for Ricky and his promoter, but sh!t for boxing fans



(damn it! I thought I'd got over this fight not happening)

[bigjack]

At the end of the day Ricky fought Tszyu, Pac and Floyd - but afraid of Witter ?

Come on Gomez, you know that's far from the full story. There was no disgrace in losing to Floyd or Manny plus Ricky would land a > £10m for his troubles, where as if Ricky would have lost to the pretty much unknown Witter he'd have gone from being one of the best in the world to not even being the best in Britain.

Rickys matchmaking philospophy throughout his career = risk:REWARD, which is great for Ricky and his promoter, but sh!t for boxing fans



(damn it! I thought I'd got over this fight not happening)

Exactly what i was just goint to say.

[palooka]

I think that if Junior had given Ricky some credit for his performances at ringside instead of using the platform for himself he'd have got a bout.

I can remember him being asked about Hatton at ringside; after a hatton bout and he disregarded the question and really went to town on how good he was. That's not really the game to play.; unless you're Cassius Clay/ Muhammed Ali, (or James Toney).

It would have been a great bout for British boxing, very well matched. A real shame that Junior didn't get the bouts his abilities deserved but Junior and his tactics were partly to blame as well.

[greenyox3]

I have not lost a wink of sleep over this fight not happening. I got bored very quickly of Witter droning on about Hatton, and I was even more bored watching him in the ring. I have never forgiven him for the 45-or-so minutes of my life that I wasted watching his fight with Corley - surely one of the worst world title fights ever.

Hatton was popular because he excited the fans. Witter couldn't fill a phone box. That's why the fight didnt happen.

And Hatton would've won (just thought I'd get that in).

[mickey1975]

I have never seen anything to suggest Witter would beat Hatton,ever.

[Gray-Fox]

Would have been an interesting one with Ricky having to have taken huge angled bombs. But I think I'd have taken him over Witter.

[Nightmare Roy]

So he took on Kosta who was p4p one of the best at the time, then fought Floyd and Manny who are two of best fighters of the past twenty years, but he ducked Witter? I just think he didn't want to give the guy a good pay day, after all the disrespect and insults he recieved.

[Wrists]

This old chestnut again..............



Look the guy fought Pacquaio, Floyd, Castillo, Tsyzu etc etc

Do we really think he bottled Junior Witter!!??

Look, Witter was a good fighter but we have all seen at proper world class just how he would have fared against Hatton in his prime.

A man who struggles against Lovemore NDou does not trouble Hatton IMO

[Finn]

This old chestnut again..............



Look the guy fought Pacquaio, Floyd, Castillo, Tsyzu etc etc

Do we really think he bottled Junior Witter!!??

Look, Witter was a good fighter but we have all seen at proper world class just how he would have fared against Hatton in his prime.

A man who struggles against Lovemore NDou does not trouble Hatton IMO

These thread always make me laugh, yeah if hatton hadnt fought Tszyu, PBF and Pac there could be an argument he bottled it against witter.

FW was on ringside the other night and said the fight never happened because witter fought on a hatton undercard to boost interest in a hatton v witter fight next. Witter didnt do well and the tv execs told FW after the fight that they werent interested in having hatton fight witter.

And after hatton parted company with FW, he was onto bigger and better fights. So why fight witter?

[Finn]

At the end of the day Ricky fought Tszyu, Pac and Floyd - but afraid of Witter ?

Come on Gomez, you know that's far from the full story. There was no disgrace in losing to Floyd or Manny plus Ricky would land a > £10m for his troubles, where as if Ricky would have lost to the pretty much unknown Witter he'd have gone from being one of the best in the world to not even being the best in Britain.

Rickys matchmaking philospophy throughout his career = risk:REWARD, which is great for Ricky and his promoter, but sh!t for boxing fans



(damn it! I thought I'd got over this fight not happening)

I would say him fighting, tszyu, castillo, floyd and Pac was great for boxing fans. I was never interested in him fighting witter, ever.

[whiskey]

At the end of the day Ricky fought Tszyu, Pac and Floyd - but afraid of Witter ?

Come on Gomez, you know that's far from the full story. There was no disgrace in losing to Floyd or Manny plus Ricky would land a > £10m for his troubles, where as if Ricky would have lost to the pretty much unknown Witter he'd have gone from being one of the best in the world to not even being the best in Britain.

Rickhttp://boxrec.com/forum/posting.php?mode=quote&f=9&p=2754847#ys matchmaking philospophy throughout his career = risk:REWARD, which is great for Ricky and his promoter, but sh!t for boxing fans

(damn it! I thought I'd got over this fight not happening)

mate I agree with a lot of what your saying, but Ricky didn't fight Witter just because they hated the guy at that moment in time.

Sure it pissed the fans off too, but Ricky genuinely at the time got tired of his tedious method and getting the fight on.

When Witter beat Corley and then KO'd Vivian Harris he really gained momentum - but when I watched Bradley steam roll Witter I realised Junior just hasn't got the style to beat Hatton. Even if he fought completely as a southpaw, Ricky has better skills.

[Chambers2]

When Witter beat Corley and then KO'd Vivian Harris he really gained momentum - but when I watched Bradley steam roll Witter I realised Junior just hasn't got the style to beat Hatton. Even if he fought completely as a southpaw, Ricky has better skills.

It would have been nice to find this out in the ring.

I'm not Championing Witter saying he'd have definitely beat Hatton (if pushed I'd have probably gone for a Hatton UD), but it was an inconic fight for British Boxing and one that should have happened

[Chambers2]

At the end of the day Ricky fought Tszyu, Pac and Floyd - but afraid of Witter ?

Come on Gomez, you know that's far from the full story. There was no disgrace in losing to Floyd or Manny plus Ricky would land a > £10m for his troubles, where as if Ricky would have lost to the pretty much unknown Witter he'd have gone from being one of the best in the world to not even being the best in Britain.

Rickys matchmaking philospophy throughout his career = risk:REWARD, which is great for Ricky and his promoter, but sh!t for boxing fans



(damn it! I thought I'd got over this fight not happening)

I would say him fighting, tszyu, castillo, floyd and Pac was great for boxing fans. I was never interested in him fighting witter, ever.

I'm a British Boxing fan who likes to see the best in the land square off against each other...... you're obviously not


Tszyu was belated, but it was good for boxin fans. Castillo was on his last legs by the time Hatton got to him. Floyd and Pac were good fights, but they weren't competitive

[Trojans44]

Just unbelievable nonsense from some people in this thread! Hatton would have destroyed Witter. Hatton became undisputed LWW champ by making one of the greatest 140 pounders of all time quit on his stool. No matter what anyone says Tszyu was still a P4P entrant at this stage. He then knocked out the most vicious in his division in his next fight. He then stepped up a weight and won a second world title against the excellent Collazo. Other defences included the tough Juan Urango who has since held a title and he destroyed Malinaggi in a far more impressive fashion than Cotto or Khan at a time when he was number 1 contender for the linear crown. He also knocked out Castillo. He gave Mayweather far more to think about than Judah, Marquez or Mosley and was ahead in the fight going past the half way stage. Given this resume, like others I find the suggestion that Hatton ducked Witter as laughable. He fought everyone that mattered.

Witter hasnt achieved even a molecule of the above. Sadly for him he defined his career by chasing Hatton. Witter could've ignored Hatton and done the above if he was good enough. The fact is that Witter was never in the same class as Hatton.

[Finn]

I'm a British Boxing fan who likes to see the best in the land square off against each other...... you're obviously not


Tszyu was belated, but it was good for boxin fans. Castillo was on his last legs by the time Hatton got to him. Floyd and Pac were good fights, but they weren't competitive

And you're obviously one of those bell ends who starts talking shite when people disagree with them. Witter wasnt a big name, he wasnt a very good champion, he's not that interesting to watch, and if he'd got in the ring with hatton it wouldnt have been competative either.

Thats why i wasnt interested in seeing the fight, and surprisingly why the tv networks werent interested either.

[Chambers2]

I'm a British Boxing fan who likes to see the best in the land square off against each other...... you're obviously not


Tszyu was belated, but it was good for boxin fans. Castillo was on his last legs by the time Hatton got to him. Floyd and Pac were good fights, but they weren't competitive

And you're obviously one of those bell ends who starts talking shite when people disagree with them. Witter wasnt a big name, he wasnt a very good champion, he's not that interesting to watch, and if he'd got in the ring with hatton it wouldnt have been competative either.

Thats why i wasnt interested in seeing the fight, and surprisingly why the tv networks werent interested either.

There's only one of us throwing insults about

Was Lazcano a BIG name? What about Urango, Collazo, Maussa, Oliveira, Stewart, Vilches, Pedersen, Rios.......... you're crazy if you think they were bigger names and better fights than Hatton-Witter

Hattons come forward style was made for Witter, that's why it didn't happen.

If Hatton was so confident about beating Witter, who according to you isn't even in his class, then he'd have shut him up in the ring, but he didn't he just repeatedly ducked him time and time again and British Boxing missed out on the inconic match of the decade

[Dioufy]

It's as simple as this; Witter was a big risk for little reward.

[Captain Hook]

Yawn, this thread again...

Witter was a good fighter who couldn't attract flies to a dump, his attitude was poor and he didn't capture the public's attention as a result.

A few angles here and there, and of course he had good power. But what about heart? Rarely did he put on a performance, and how much of an anticlimax were the months and years preceding the demolition of Harris?

At least Hatton had a crack at Tszyu, Castillo, Pacman, Floyd etc.......pound for pounders.

Witter was all mouth and no trousers. His 'efforts' against Bradley and Alexander proved that.

And now he's fighting Piuiu in Canada? Do me a favour...

Stick him in with Kell Brook, battle of Yorkshire......see how many tickets they sell at the Doncaster Dome.