BoxRec

It has been two months since Forest Hall boxer Lewis Ritson (17-1-0 11KO) was handed his first loss on a split decision against Francesco Patera.

It is clear the ‘sandman’ will not fight again until 2019 but the question still remains on who he will fight next after what had been a blockbuster year.

Recently the British Boxing Board of Control have ordered Ritson to defend his British Lightweight belt against Andy Townend (22-4-0 14 KOs) who has worked extremely hard to earn the opportunity.

The BBBC are also rumoured to have ordered Joe Cordina (8-0-0 6 KOs) to fight Craig Evans (19-2-2 3 KOs) as an final eliminator with potentially Ritson facing the winner.

Another potential fight for Ritson would be a rematch with Patera, given the close nature of the first fight it would be a bout that makes sense should Ritson make the improvements in camp.

A third option would be to move up weight to Super Lightweight and attempt winning the British title at that weight against Robbie Davies Jr, or even push on to European level again.

Awaiting him for a potential bout for the EBU Super Lightweight would be Swede Anthony Yigit (21-1-1 7 KOs) who has defended the belt twice.

A final option and one that Ritson himself has said he would like would be Hull based fighter Tommy Coyle (25-4-0 12 KOs).

Coyle who holds the Commonwealth Lightweight strap after beating Sean Dodd in Liverpool back in April would be a perfect matchup for Ritson, especially if the belt was put on the line.

Many options IMO.. Should he stay at Lightweight? Should he move up to light-welterweight? Some tough boxers at that weight too, although it's not a standout division at the moment.

Still plenty of Brits he can fight..

If he couldn't beat Patera, I doubt he beats Tatli..

A rematch agaisnt Patera would be good, but he would need to put in a lot more work.

The fight proved although he was demolishing the domestic scene, one step up against a former European champion and eh was knocked back down a peg.

Plenty options for him. He'd probably be better facing a couple of mid level international types to see how he adapts to different styles. Didn't handle the jump from Domestic straight to European as well as I'd anticipated.

Stuarty wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 12:16 Plenty options for him. He'd probably be better facing a couple of mid level international types to see how he adapts to different styles. Didn't handle the jump from Domestic straight to European as well as I'd anticipated.

Yeh, also a lot of his fights were ending too quick. he fought 4 times this year before fighting Patera and he only did around 7 rounds. The Brit title defences didnt even go past 2 rounds.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 12:24

Stuarty wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 12:16 Plenty options for him. He'd probably be better facing a couple of mid level international types to see how he adapts to different styles. Didn't handle the jump from Domestic straight to European as well as I'd anticipated.

Yeh, also a lot of his fights were ending too quick. he fought 4 times this year before fighting Patera and he only did around 7 rounds. The Brit title defences didnt even go past 2 rounds.

Don't you think it might be the training camps rather than the fights that could have affected his performance against Patera? Although the fights were not punishing having to punish your body to ensure you are ready for a twelve round war. Lewis did five, twelve round training camps in a year, as well as the pointless eight rounder on the Birmingham show imo a small break will do him the world of good.

David McAllister wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 14:43

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 12:24

Stuarty wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 12:16 Plenty options for him. He'd probably be better facing a couple of mid level international types to see how he adapts to different styles. Didn't handle the jump from Domestic straight to European as well as I'd anticipated.

Yeh, also a lot of his fights were ending too quick. he fought 4 times this year before fighting Patera and he only did around 7 rounds. The Brit title defences didnt even go past 2 rounds.

Don't you think it might be the training camps rather than the fights that could have affected his performance against Patera? Although the fights were not punishing having to punish your body to ensure you are ready for a twelve round war. Lewis did five, twelve round training camps in a year, as well as the pointless eight rounder on the Birmingham show imo a small break will do him the world of good.

Could of played its part but looking back I'd say he got found out technically. He's a young fighter who obviously has ability and a good
Punch. That defeat will be the making of him as he will now know he can't just walk through all comers and will have to sort out his defence and work more off his boxing to create the openings rather than take 2 to land 1 approach. He should come back with a 8rounder against a durable but not to threatening opponent, and then take it from there

He should get some rounds in at British title level, earn some cash and then move back up to Euro level next year.
He actually suffered by knocking everyone out because he lacked experience when he moved up.

smiling assassin wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 14:58

David McAllister wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 14:43

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 12:24

Yeh, also a lot of his fights were ending too quick. he fought 4 times this year before fighting Patera and he only did around 7 rounds. The Brit title defences didnt even go past 2 rounds.

Don't you think it might be the training camps rather than the fights that could have affected his performance against Patera? Although the fights were not punishing having to punish your body to ensure you are ready for a twelve round war. Lewis did five, twelve round training camps in a year, as well as the pointless eight rounder on the Birmingham show imo a small break will do him the world of good.

Could of played its part but looking back I'd say he got found out technically. He's a young fighter who obviously has ability and a good
Punch. That defeat will be the making of him as he will now know he can't just walk through all comers and will have to sort out his defence and work more off his boxing to create the openings rather than take 2 to land 1 approach. He should come back with a 8rounder against a durable but not to threatening opponent, and then take it from there

Be good if it works that way.
Natural power can be a curse - David "HayeMaker" Haye had the same with Carl "The Cat" Thompson and he turned out doing all right !

How easy does he make 135? He's big at the weight.

I think the fact he was in training pretty much all year (since summer 2017) deffo played a part in his latest loss. I hear he makes the weight quite easy and might be going to New York start of next year for some quality sparring. I expect him to rebound and gave another good year as he’s a great talent who’s very hungry.

The fact Eddie quickly realised the North East are desperate for a star so bestowed Ricky Hatton status on him might not have helped.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 17:58 The fact Eddie quickly realised the North East are desperate for a star so bestowed Ricky Hatton status on him might not have helped.

True

mickey1975 wrote: ↑14 Dec 2018, 17:58 The fact Eddie quickly realised the North East are desperate for a star so bestowed Ricky Hatton status on him might not have helped.

Aye. Hearn definitely trying to fast track him because of the potential size and geography of his fan base.

He needs to get back to school. He's got plenty to learn. There's a good future for him if he works on his boxing and does things properly. Hopefully he knows now that relying on the knockout isn't enough.

Lots of options, reckon after that last showing he'd get beat by Cordina for sure though.

shadesofali wrote: ↑15 Dec 2018, 07:42 Lots of options, reckon after that last showing he'd get beat by Cordina for sure though.

Good fight that, and easy to make you'd imagine.

I heard someone on commentary say that Ritson's trainers didn't study Patera at all before the fight.

It showed, as Patera was the only one in the ring with a clear gameplan.

The early knockouts were as bad for his team as they were for him, it seems.

I'd like to see him stick around British title level and work on his defence. But, If he doesn't start incorporating some head movement in to his game soon it doesn't bode well for the future. He could end up old before his time with not much to show for it.

seanilius wrote: ↑15 Dec 2018, 12:03 I'd like to see him stick around British title level and work on his defence. But, If he doesn't start incorporating some head movement in to his game soon it doesn't bode well for the future. He could end up old before his time with not much to show for it.

Yeah I agree. He needs to work on his skill set and learn to punch from a more defensive posture. I.E. Footwork; angles; head-movement, etc. Also learn to finish off combinations with a hook... So many fighters don't do that and it drives me nuts.

I think he should avoid the rematch. I can only see another defeat at the moment

LEWIS RITSON (Holder) vs. ANDY TOWNEND –

The Stewards decided to put out the above contest to purse bids. Those to be submitted in accordance with the Terms and Conditions. Sent to the Board’s Head Office by 12:00noon on Wednesday, 9th January 2019. The contest to take place by the end of April 2019.

Last year was such a good year for Ritson. This year so far has been poor..