BoxRec

Press Release

Lewis Ritson will face Jeremias Ponce in a Final Eliminator for the IBF Super-Lightweight World Title at the Vertu Motors Arena, Newcastle on Saturday, June 12, live on Sky Sports in the UK and on DAZN in the US and more than 200 countries and territories.

‘The Sandman’ won a controversial split decision against Miguel Vazquez behind closed doors at the East of England Arena in Peterborough last time out in October to claim the vacant WBA Intercontinental Super-Lightweight Title and improve his record to 21-1 (12 KOs).

In his last fight in front of his Newcastle faithful, Ritson produced a career-best performance to beat bitter rival Robbie Davies Jr in an enthralling Fight of the Year candidate, and the 27-year-old says he can’t wait to get back in front of his fanatical support against undefeated Argentinian Ponce.

The 24-year-old, from Buenos Aires, won the South American Title in 2019 by outpointing fellow Argentine Leonardo Amitrano, and became IBO Champion later that year with a points win in Berlin over Germany’s Rico Muller on his debut outside the Americas.

He boxed twice in late 2020, both all-Argentinian confrontations, firstly stopping Ruben Lopez in 90 seconds before being pushed all the way by southpaw Jonathan Eniz over 10 tough rounds, and heads into his showdown with Geordie favourite Ritson on the back of a 27-fight winning streak.

“It was a strange experience behind closed doors last time so I’m thrilled fans will be returning, it’s always loud in Newcastle and I’m proud to have them behind me cheering me on,” said Ritson.

“Ponce likes to come forward, throw a few good body shots and he’s got a decent jab. We’re expecting and have prepared for a tough fight and it should be given what’s at stake.

“I’m one or two fights away from being World Champion now, that’s the dream for any boxer and to be in touching distance now is spurring me on with this Final Eliminator locked in.”

“I’m really looking forward to the fight,” said Ponce. “I’ve already become World Champion in Europe when I won the IBO crown against Rico Mueller and after my win against Ritson on June 12 I am aiming to win another World Title. I’m ready to box anyone in my weight class.”

“This is a huge fight for Lewis Ritson, he is one fight away from a shot at the undisputed championship,” said Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn. “We should be having the full 9,000 in Newcastle but right now 1,000 is going to feel like a full house and I can’t wait to see the fans again in Newcastle – I expect this main event to be a war.”

A limited number of tickets will be made available for this event and further details will be released on Thursday May 27.

I read the title and thought 'Jeremias Ponce... hmmm, is that some exotic disease I've never heard of?'.

Allas wrote: ↑25 May 2021, 11:59

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑25 May 2021, 07:31 “This is a huge fight for Lewis Ritson, he is one fight away from a shot at the undisputed championship,”said Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn.

Made me laugh.

Not a chance Hearn puts Ritson in with Taylor. He’ll wait til they’ve been vacated.

Yeh, haha! Hearn is a smart man. He'll hype up everything and make it sound good.

For a casual, they'll eat it up.

An actual eliminator.
So the winner gets Taylor, fair enough.
I don't mind this fight actually. From the little I've managed to see of Ponce, he's alright I suppose
Rangie SLW, I would expect Ritson to fold him in half with body shots as there is soo much real estate

CatteRitson UK tour for Taylor?

for the sake of josh's streak beating undefeated opponents, it must be ponce!!!

KiwiRider wrote: ↑25 May 2021, 19:40 An actual eliminator.
So the winner gets Taylor, fair enough.
I don't mind this fight actually. From the little I've managed to see of Ponce, he's alright I suppose
Rangie SLW, I would expect Ritson to fold him in half with body shots as there is soo much real estate

Final eliminator too.

ironbeard wrote: ↑25 May 2021, 23:27 CatteRitson UK tour for Taylor?

Just over the border, a bit of a beano for both sets of fans, easy money for Josh, pisses Omerto off
what's not to like? Same with Catt, hover up the nuisance neighbours whilst topping up the post office
account......and then plot those 'super-fights'.

My Name Is Earl wrote: ↑26 May 2021, 05:43

ironbeard wrote: ↑25 May 2021, 23:27 CatteRitson UK tour for Taylor?

Just over the border, a bit of a beano for both sets of fans, easy money for Josh, pisses Omerto off
what's not to like? Same with Catt, hover up the nuisance neighbours whilst topping up the post office
account......and then plot those 'super-fights'.

Omerto ain’t talk in’.

Fight Week!!

Full Undercard

• West Rainton’s Thomas Patrick Ward (29-0-1, 4 KOs) takes on Mexico’s Edy Valencia Mercado (17-5-6, 5 KOs) in a ten-round Featherweight clash

• Former Team GB standout Cyrus Pattinson makes his professional debut in a six-round Super-Welterweight clash with Bulgaria’s Yoncho Markov (4-2, 2 KOs)

• Croatian Heavyweight sensation Alen Babic (6-0, 6 KOs) returns to action following a shoulder injury

• Catford Super-Bantamweight Ellie Scotney (2-0) meets Spain’s Vanesa Caballero (4-9-3) over eight rounds

• Birmingham Heavyweight Solomon Dacres (1-0) clashes with Spain’s Alvaro Terrero (5-11-2, 3 KOs) over six rounds

• Benwell Welterweight Joe Laws (9-1, 5 KOs) fights Nestor Maradiaga (9-10-2, 5 KOs) over six rounds

• Wallsend Welterweight April Hunter (3-0) meets Hungary’s Klaudia Vigh (3-27-1, 2 KOs)

Apart from Ritson and Ward, it's just a prospect card.

Allas wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 10:39

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 10:17
• Croatian Heavyweight sensation Alen Babic (6-0, 6 KOs) returns to action following a shoulder injury

Christ.

Press Releases mate

Never heard of a single name on Ponce's record but he's unbeaten with a bit of a dig maybe, Ritson has never really looked the same since the Patera loss, he's moved up to 140 and has a good win over Davies Jr but got the most generous gift i think ive ever seen last time against Vazquez and there's been a few mediocre showings in amongst it

Ponce doesnt have to be anything special to outbox Ritson but getting the decision is another thing entirely

Horrendous card btw, rivals Franks last week

Final Sky/Matchroom card.

handsofstone wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 11:01 Horrendous card btw, rivals Franks last week

Yeah - a little better than FW’s but not by much and certainly the worst Sky show of the year. It’ll be interesting to see how good Ritson’s opponent is.

I could understand putting Laws on there if there were tickets to sell but there aren’t so whats the point?!

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 10:49 Apart from Ritson and Ward, it's just a prospect card.

Yep, like what Fwank put together last week, and Floyd's undercard on the weekend.
Ritson and Ward trump both Fwank and Fwoyd

Edit : that's a bit harsh. I actually like watching Ward...

the ritson fight is somewhat intesting to me because i dont think he's looked very good at 10st and the argie is a mystery, so it'll be interestin for at least a few rounds while we see how it's playing out

i haven't seen wards opponent fight. his record looks pretty meh, though these unknown mexicans can pull some upsets cant they.

the rest is just turds. i really couldnt care less about even the hottest prospects being showcased vs totally overmatched opponents, nor 2 womens fights

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 19:53 the ritson fight is somewhat intesting to me because i dont think he's looked very good at 10st and the argie is a mystery, so it'll be interestin for at least a few rounds while we see how it's playing out

the rest of it is pretty bleh

i really couldnt care less about even the hottest prospects being showcased vs totally overmatched opponents, nor 2 womens fights

Yeh, should have gotten a Mehican boxer.. they come to the UK to WIN!

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 19:55

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑07 Jun 2021, 19:53 the ritson fight is somewhat intesting to me because i dont think he's looked very good at 10st and the argie is a mystery, so it'll be interestin for at least a few rounds while we see how it's playing out

the rest of it is pretty bleh

i really couldnt care less about even the hottest prospects being showcased vs totally overmatched opponents, nor 2 womens fights

Yeh, should have gotten a Mehican boxer.. they come to the UK to WIN!

The Argie has some power, he must have.

we gotta also cheer for the argie cuz then he;s jt's mandatory and then josh can continue his unbeaten opponent streak

Lewis Ritson: I got a gift against Miguel Vazquez, ready for Jeremias Ponce

Lewis Ritson hasn’t watched back his last fight, but is taking his father’s honest word for it and vows to be better Saturday.

To his credit, Ritson says that while he hasn’t watched the fight back, he accepts the word of someone important: his father, who told him the truth.

“I haven’t really watched it back, but a couple of days later I went to my dad’s house and asked him if he’d watched the fight,” Ritson said. “He said yes, and I asked him to be truthful about what he thought of it. He was honest and said we got the rub of the green, we got very lucky, and we got gifted a decision, but that it is up to me whether to dwell on it or improve on it.

“That’s what we’ve done, we’ve gone away and made a few changes in camp. It was just a clash of styles. I think I was probably Vazquez’s best performance in a few years and it was one of my worst to be fair. You live and you learn, there was maybe a few things that we could have done differently in that fight. We know that now and we’ve got the experience in the bank.”

The attitude Ritson carries from that fight is a good one, as there’s nothing he can do about it, really. He can’t go to the commission and beg them to reverse the decision. He can only move on, and on that score, he’s made the move train under his father again, parting ways with Neill Fannan.

“I’m back with my old man. I had a little bit of thinking to do after my last fight. I half hinted that I wanted to come home, and my dad half hinted that he wanted to be back training me,” he said. “It was the right move for me and we’ve been flying in camp. A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter, it’s probably the first time in a while that I’ve been quite happy.”

Ponce (27-0, 17 KO) is a bit of a wild card, unbeaten but mostly untested. The 24-year-old from Argentina will be looking to make a real splash, and obviously a win also puts him right in line for that IBF shot, whether it comes against Josh Taylor or — more likely — later this year with the vacant title on the line, against Subriel Matias.

And Ritson isn’t looking past the visitor at all, knowing that just because someone hasn’t fought at the top level yet, it doesn’t mean they can’t.

“I’m fully focused on Ponce. We’ve got to make sure that we beat him and beat him well. We know what he’s coming to do and he’s coming to win. He’s coming to have a go,” he said. “Stylistically he’s a bit like me — good jab, throws to the body, and stands in front of you. If it goes like we think, then it’s going to be a very crowd-pleasing fight and a hard night.

“He could be one of those undiscovered gems out of Argentina. We’re not taking him lightly, we’ve seen the South Americans come over, one beat my mate Robbie, there’s a few that have upset the apple cart, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re on the ball and it doesn’t happen to us.”

Respect to his dad and him for not being deluded about his last fight.