Hatton v Witter - May 2006

[Phenomenal-Nutrition]

Outside of N'dou and Kotelnik, Witter hasn't defended against/beaten anyone even resembling world class, so why should him being triple champ warrant him being cosidered one of the best at 140? I'm no Witter hater, I want both Brits to do well and eventually fight, but to say Hatton is ducking him, or that he deserves a shot based on the fact he owns three belts is ludicrous.
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Witters CV is as good as anyones at 140

Witters best wins - Ndou (did better than Mitchell/Cotto), Bergman (good enough to challenege a Prime Zoo), Kotelnik (beat Abduleev), Lauri (in 2rounds compared to hattons 6), Battalgia (went 12 with Ukral), Biennas (went 12 with Ukral) - LOSS - Judah (a weeks notice went the distance and won a few rounds but fought negatively)

Cottos best Wins - Abduleev (lost to Kotelnik), Corley, Ndou (very very close), Torres (hasn't fought anyone to gage how good he is), Pinto (lost to an ancient Phillips)

Rabah - fought no one other than Morua, should have squared off with Ndou for Aus title before getting a shot at a title.

Harris - Ukral, Mbaiye, Hurtado

Mbaiye - Kotelnik (close fight like Witters and hes a mandatory from it)

Corralles/Castillo/Freitas - unproven at the weight but obviously top fighters.

Are you f*cking joking mate. Witter was not more impressive against N'Dou than Cotto. He scored 2 knockdowns yeah. But after round 5 N'Dou was on top for long patches. Check out the scorecards. He won it by 114-112 on 2 of them.
As for Battaglia who is a nobody by the way and hasn't beaten anyone. Urkal , who beats everyone including his mother in law on points, beat him on points. So what? How does that make Witter blowing him away any better?
He beat Bergman in a 6 ROUNDER. And just because you challenge someone doesn't make you good as you claimed Bergman must have been to challenge Judah. By that logic Allan Vester and Wayne Martell were quality fighters.And Bergman was only a replacement for the injured Terron Millet in a fight for the vacant IBF title.
You say that Riccardo Torres never beat no one when refering to Cotto. True. But who the hell have Lauri and Biennes ever beat. And besides when people refer to Hatton's best wins I have never EVER heard anyone mention Lauri as one of them.
Yeah Witter beat Kotlenick. But it was close and even debated by ringsiders and Witter is not interested in a rematch.

Cotto schooled N'Dou. He won it going away. It was not "very,very close" by even the most wildest stretch of the imagination.
Abduallev was a once beaten(in bizarre circumstances) ex Olympic champ who had knocked out ex world champ Phil Holliday in 4.
Pinto was an unbeaten pucher who had beaten Manny Augustus and lost a TD because of a cut in like 5 rounds to Phillips. Hardly a devestating defeat.
Cotto has also beaten 2 time ex-world champ Randall Bailey(KO 6), ex lightweight king Cesar Bazan (KO 11), 2 time world title challenger Victoriano Sosa(KO 4) ( who gave PBF a godd argument over 12) and Gianluca Branco (KO eight) who had only lost once for a world title against Gatti and was given a decent chance before the fight. Put it this way Branco would bitch slap Lauri, Battaglia and Biennes.
Witter's record is really a joke. His 15 straight knockouts were against the bum of the month club. Why has he never fought even half decent domestic opponents like Jon Thaxton or taken on a real challenge like Eamonn Magee?

The point is Witters is on par with Cottos resume which he is. Witter put Ndou on the canvas twice and had him close to going in the 10th or was it the 11th. Cotto didn't come close to this and looked pretty ordinary and boring in this fight. Witters top 2 opponents are as good as anyone Cottos fought whatever way you spin the facts, only Corley and Ndou have been realt top10 players.

Witters Euro level opponents are on par with Branco - whats Branco ever done thats better than other Italians? He doesn't appear very good and hasnt got much of a punch to 'bitch slap' anyone.

Witter looked to have stamina issues but Cotto looks to have chin issues.

You seem pretty biased against Witter, maybe your a Hatton fan who can't handle potential threats? Don't worry Hatton will never fight Witter.

[WayoftheCass]

The point is Witters is on par with Cottos resume which he is. Witter put Ndou on the canvas twice and had him close to going in the 10th or was it the 11th. Cotto didn't come close to this and looked pretty ordinary and boring in this fight. Witters top 2 opponents are as good as anyone Cottos fought whatever way you spin the facts, only Corley and Ndou have been realt top10 players.

Witters Euro level opponents are on par with Branco - whats Branco ever done thats better than other Italians? He doesn't appear very good and hasnt got much of a punch to 'bitch slap' anyone.

Witter looked to have stamina issues but Cotto looks to have chin issues.

You seem pretty biased against Witter, maybe your a Hatton fan who can't handle potential threats? Don't worry Hatton will never fight Witter.

"The point is Witter is on a par with Cotto's resume which he is." Are you mental? I just underlined how far and away better Cotto's opponents have been and you have just dismissed that along with the various other posters who have stated that Cotto was more impressive against N'Dou.
I mean did you even read my post? How can you compare Battaglia, Kotelnick (against whom Witter just made it in an extremely 'BORING' fight) and Lauri with Bazan,Pinto,Branco,Bailey,Sosa,Torres and Corley?
There are THREE ex WORLD champions in there along with TWO ex world title challengers.
How many world titles have Battaglia, Kotlenick,Lauri and Biennes fought for between them? Oh I know.......NONE.....ZIP.......SQUAT.............NADA!
THE FACT is that Cotto's opponents have been SUPERIOR to Witter's. If you want we can hold a poll or consensus on the matter which will once and for all destroy this nonsensical notion that you have about the quality that Witter has faced.
I notice the old chestnut of you accusing me of being some mad Hatton fan because I have the audacity to dispute a pretty crystaly clear biased claim on your part about Witter's acheivements.
I do enjoy watching Hatton but I have always followed Miguel Cotto and believe he would best Hatton should they ever meet. And I have no doubt that Cotto would easily dismiss the protected big mouth that is Witter. I also notice that you did not address my point on why or how in his long career Witter has somehow been able to avoid domestic rivals Jon Thaxton and Eamonn Magee (both of whom Hatton has faced) and European rivals Oktay Urkal , who was European champ at Light Welter up to last year and Souly M'Baye who has been Witter's leading challenger for the last year.