Looks like Mr Witter is going to fight a guy with a pulse this time..
Don't rule out an upset here guys, Kelson Pinto looks like a good prospect who can bang too. He has only gone the distance twice in 19 and already has 11 first round KO's.
I say this is definetly a step up in class for Witter and needs to be on his game....maybe a little defence wouldn't go a miss..?
I say Pinto should'nt underestimate Witter in this one. This should be a great scrap if Pinto really does have some top notch power and i hope the kid has a good chin to go with it.
Pinto beat Cotto as an amateur and is now with Golden Boy promotions, who must think they've got a rising star on their hands.
And the fact he's thought to be a very hard puncher make it even more interesting.
I'm very worried about this fight. Apparently Pinto can hit hard but isn't a conventional come forward banger. This won't suit Witter. However, the time has come for him to stand up and be counted. A good performance will shut the doubters up.
Pinto's record suggests he's a puncher but look at the records of the guy's he's been knocking out. You could say the same about Witter of course.
I like the fact that in Wittres last outing he was keeping his hands high, well...high by his own standards anyway.
MightyWarrior wrote:
It could be seen as an upset if Witter wins.
Twinkle Toes wrote:
If Witter wins this, it will certainly silence me.
Well, these 2 statements about sum it up for me. I've said time and again that the only oustanding thing Witter has done since Judah is run his mouth off. The opponents he has demolished were of too low a calibre to make any assertions about his capabilities in championship class.
One way or another, we find out soon.
Jedi,
In honesty, for anyone really understanding boxing, I wouldn't describe a Pinto victory as a shock or surprise.
Witter's Promotor was always going to make him do it the hard way, and allow Hatton to do it the easier way.
This is Witter's chance, plain and simple.
In fact the whole night could be defining.
1/ Witter and Hatton both win.
The status quo remains.
2/ Witter loses, Hatton wins.
The Promotor is off the hook, and Hatton will never face Witter.
3/ Witter wins, Hatton loses
Now there's an interesting one - maybe we'll all get the fight we want !!
Or they might both lose, I'd say Hatton has a 50/50 chance against Tackie, and we may as well say Witter has the same chance since we've never seen Pinto.
If they both lose does that mean Hatton's still off the hook or will he need to beat Witter to get back on track?
The plot thickens.
in my opinion Witter has the harder night. Pinto has never been beaten so we dont know his limits. Everyone is aware of Tackies limits though, he can be outboxed fairly comfortably. He had lost all 24 rounds against Kosta and Mitchell in most people eyes. So the blueprint to beat him is common knowledge.
Bassie,
I left that one out on purpose !
Don't want to get under FW's skin too much, do we ??
I can't see that happening Bassie, but a valid point you raise.
As the outsider of the field, if that did occur then I would say the face off is inevitable.
I'm a fan of both Hatton and Witter ironically but would really enjoy this fight.
I still believe Witter has the edge, if ever it happened.
Where would that leave the Promotor ?
I can see it happening, Tackie's lost to Tszyu and Mitchell but so would Hatton.
Agree with knockout, Witter has the guy no'one knows anything about, that's the big danger more so than his apparent punch.
I train at the same gym as witter and see him train every day.in my opinion he will beat pinto come 13th december.If hatton and witter ever got to box each other,witter will stop ricky.allegedly doesnt want it to happen yet,its obvious.Everyone wants 2 c the fight happen between witter and hatton and warren'll make a lot of money from the fight so he doesnt need showtime to back the fight.
when did Warren say he didn't want the fight, can you post a link?
He undermines Witter at every opportunity, you remember him saying to the crowd "do you want to see Ricky Hatton in with Junior Witter? they don't sound like they do" ringside after the Phillips fight?
he seems to be the only person who doesn't want to see it
It does seem perplexing Warren's attitude to Witter, he's very much the poor relation of the Warren camp, to Ricky. Why doesn't Warren simply let him become a free agent? He doesn't seem to have much faith in him.
I wonder if Warren's attitude is a long-standing grudge due to the Witter performance against Judah, I guess that would be pretty embarrasing if you managed to get someone a Showtime date and a crack at the title and they moonwalk around the ring for 12 rounds.
If Witter wins big against Pinto however, then I think we may see a new state of play, especially if Hatton gets stopped, which is not beyond the realms of possibility, after all, nobody has ever beaten Tackie by barreling forward throwing shots.
[quote="bennie"]Promoter allegedly has launched a scathing attack on Junior Witter and his camp after the Yorkshire fighter accused Ricky Hatton of being "a coward".
Hatton and Witter will appear on the same card for the third time in succession at the MEN Arena on December 13 - but once more against different opponents rather than each other.
Hatton defends his WBU light-welterweight belt against tough-as-teak Ghanaian Ben Tackie as he looks to enhance his reputation on the world scene.
Witter will face big-punching Brazilian Kelson Pinto for the right to face WBO champion Zab Judah.
Witter claimed Hatton is running scared from a much-anticipated domestic dust-up following a two-year feud between the two.
"It is disgraceful for Junior to make such a comment," said Warren. "It is not the sort of thing I would expect Junior to do and I can only believe he has been put up to it.
"The simple fact is that for this fight to go ahead it needs the backing of American TV network Showtime and, at the moment, they just don't want to know Junior.
"Unfortunately, Junior has only appeared twice on Showtime and both times they have not been impressed by him. So he has to convince them he is a credible opponent.
"Kelson Pinto has done well on Showtime so this is Junior's chance to push himself forward and if he wins in good style it will be very hard for Showtime to stand in his way."
Warren himself came under fire from Witter's co-trainer John Ingle, who disputed whether Showtime's money was needed to put on a Hatton-Witter showdown.
"If American TV don't want it, SKY still want it and there will be 15,000 people willing to turn up, so there's still enough money to do it, it's just an excuse for Hatton," said Ingle.
However, Warren countered: "I'm sick of John Ingle's two-faced whinging. If he thinks there is enough to put on the show, why doesn't he get his promoter's licence and do it himself.
"Junior Witter just hasn't done enough to make himself marketable yet. There was talk of him fighting Eamonn Magee but when it went to purse bids there wasn't one bid. "When I put forward the Pinto fight to them, they wanted to back out. But I told them they have to fight someone dangerous enough to boost Junior's profile.
"They should be thanking me for paying Junior to fight his last two opponents, who I hadn't seen beforehand but both turned out to be well below standard.
"However, I'm not here to hand out charity or pay people's pensions and Junior has to earn the right to fight Ricky."[/quote]
Here's that quote you asked about MrBassie, posted by bennie a few weeks back..
I'm looking forward to this bill if it all holds together - it's rare to see a genuine 50/50 world eliminator in all the WBU crap we have to put up with..
It was scheduled to be Jason Rowland vs Zab Judah on the undercard of Zab's mate Tyson main event (vs Savarese). Rowland being British champion at that time, beating a over-hyped Mark Winters. Rowland wasn't expected to win and he'd done little to warrant such a shot. However, Rowland pulled out with an injury (or illness) so Witter stepped in.
I think Witter had probably a weeks notice, certainly more than a few days.
Correct me if I'm wrong but this reminds me of the Naseem Hamed v Daniel Alicea fight in a way.
Alicea was getting a good build-up but they put him in too early with Naz, yet he still gave him plenty to think about and put him down.
Witter's hitting hard nowadays but he's also more open, like Naz became when he turned into a power merchant. However, but I don't think Jnr's as dangerous as Naz.
It could be a right old shoot out and I think Witter's in for a rough night, whatever the outcome.
