BoxRec

Witters first mandatory seems to be a very tough 1 in the shape of the winner of Harris-Lazcanno. I've seen very little of Lazcanno so am unsure how this 1 will go, but think Harris will be too much for him all the same.

I rate Harris very highly and am of the opinion he had a Wlad/Lennox style off night against Maussa. He is a typical Manny Steward style fighter and is reminicent of Hearns in some ways although not upto that standard.

I also think Harris is the most underated 1 punch artist in the game. He beat Hurtado faster than Tyszu, stopped Ukral when Tyszu didn't come close too. He took iron chinned Maussa down with the first punch of their fight. The bad news for Witter is he seems to do very well against boxers and slick fighters too such as Mbaiye and Hurtado. His weakness seems to be a not so fast workrate and at times a predictable offense but he can box well to set up attacks.

I think either fight will be exciting as both will come to goto war and Witter will know he has to be 100% to come away with the win. 1 things for sure this fight will tell us a great deal about how much each fighter has left.

As a Witter fan you may expect may to be worried about the prospect of this match up but I am really looking forward to it. It should be a great fight with 2 top guys squaring off. It’s a shame it won’t get the accolades as the mini superfight it is but personally I’m really looking too it even more so than Barrera-Marquez, Hatton-Castillo or Cotto-Margarito. This truly is the match up Witters career has been leading upto. I hope both fighters get paid well from what could turn into a war.

So whats everyones opinion on Harris-Lazcano and Witter versus the winner???

I can't comment on Lazcano, because I've never seen him. I'm loathe to judge fighters purely by their records, but studying his, you'd probably make Harris favourite against him. That said, I really wasn't impressed with Harris against Stevie Johnston, who is surely long past his prime now. So Lazcano surely cannot be counted out.

I agree that Harris' loss to Maussa has to be an off-night, but if I was comparing it to Lewis/Wlad, I'm tempted to say it's a lot closer to Klitschko, given that I think there may be deeper, psychological flaws, as opposed to Lewis' technical/arrogance issues.

Either way, I hope the WBC make the winner a fairly urgent mandatory, which they should do, given that Witter won a vacant belt, because Witter has been uninspiring to my eyes recently. If he can see off Harris, or a Lazcano who beats Harris impressively, I will be happy to reassess my opinion that he isn't quite as good as his publicity would suggest.

i favour harris to beat lazcano.

i remember seeing lazcano get bashed up by castillo. real bruising fight that was.

i think i'd make witter favourite over harris.

This is an interesting one.
I think Haris will beat Lazcano and so, in a fight with Witter, I think I would lean toward the champion but it wouldnt surprise me if he lost.

hitman_hatton1 wrote:
i remember seeing lazcano get bashed up by castillo. real bruising fight that was..

Didn't see that but many said Lazcanno could have beat Castillo if he upped his work

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

hitman_hatton1 wrote:
i remember seeing lazcano get bashed up by castillo. real bruising fight that was..

Didn't see that but many said Lazcanno could have beat Castillo if he upped his work

nah disagree with that.

castillo owned him down the stretch.

his face looked fucked at the end of it all.

worth checking out that fight.

Witter would start favourite against Lazcano, but I'd take an 80% Harris over Witter any day of the week.
Both are better than anyone Witter has fought since Judah.

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

hitman_hatton1 wrote:
i remember seeing lazcano get bashed up by castillo. real bruising fight that was..

Didn't see that but many said Lazcanno could have beat Castillo if he upped his work

Castillo was half dead at the weight, yet he mostly had his way and turned Lazcano into a 'panicked Hispanic.' Castillo's previous fights were around 145-lbs, and he came down to 135 saying "I had to cut off an arm (to make weight)." He outboxed Lazcano over the first 4, took a few rds off, then resumed command. Really good performance, controlled yet brutal, and he showed it was no fluke by grinding down Casamayor (I had JLC only just winning) and spanking Julio Diaz (vacated IBF champ), another promising young fighter.

The could have/should have comes from the expectations going into the fight. Lazcano was young, improving & the next big thing.

I hope Castillo can replicate this form at 140.


I'm interested in where Harris fits into the equation. He's very talente,d hits har,d but can't fvck around anymore. He was supposed to fight Castillo, what happened to that fight?

Taki... wrote:Witter would start favourite against Lazcano, but I'd take an 80% Harris over Witter any day of the week.
Both are better than anyone Witter has fought since Judah.

Witter wouldn't get KO'ed by Carlos Maussa. :P

Regarding Lazcano alot will depend on Witter. I've seen a fair amount of Lazcano recently and although just about worthy of a top ten place - he is far from great. He isn't quick and is easy to be messed about with.

However, Lazcano has fair/middling power and excellent stamina. I think Witter would be well on top.... but if he would fade like he has done (the Corley fight proved nothing cause neither did much) then he could get into trouble. Lazcano is a little less limited than N'dou.

If Witter's stamina is okay then Witter by wide decision.

Harris seems to many things similar to Witter - good power, decent speed (edge to Witter) but Stamina problems. Harris has the power to hurt Junior - but Junior's chin looks okay. I don't think Witter's stamina problems will be a major issue hear - cause Harris will be more tired.

Witter either by mid round KO or points.

Both would be good interesting fights - as would a fight with the guy who recently "lost" to Lazcano.

I haven't seen Lazcano recently but remember when he was on the rise and being touted as a future star in his fight with Stevie Johnston. Johnston outboxed him at range but his legs couldn't hold out and Lazcano caught up with him and beat him up a bit. Against Castillo there is no way workrate cost Lazcano he just got bashed up by a far more experienced man plain and simple IMO.

As for Vivian Harris i genuinely believe the Maussa fight was a blip and fully expect him to beat Lazcano who has been found to be a level below the very best. I would back Harris to stop him late with those accurate raking punches.

Lazcano should play right into Harris, make him look a million dollars and get him ready for something meaningful.

I think Castillo ruined him a bit.

There's going to be good mix at 140 and if Witter can get by, say, Harris, the Bradford boxer can be involved.

Max Molyneux wrote:

Taki... wrote:Witter would start favourite against Lazcano, but I'd take an 80% Harris over Witter any day of the week.
Both are better than anyone Witter has fought since Judah.

Witter wouldn't get KO'ed by Carlos Maussa. :P

Maussa is better than anyone Witter has faced since he fought Judah (I see a pattern there).

Maussa isn't better than N'Dou, Corley or Kotelnik. In my opinion he isn't even in the top 5 fighters Ricky has fought. Outside of beating a knackered, unprepared Harris and looking like the most unskilled title holder ever what has Maussa done. He makes Mayorga look like Mayweather

Maussa is an anomoly like Baldomir. Neither are good enough to be world class, yet Maussa beat Resto & Harris and Baldo beat Judah and Gatti.

Taki... wrote:

Max Molyneux wrote:

Taki... wrote:Witter would start favourite against Lazcano, but I'd take an 80% Harris over Witter any day of the week.
Both are better than anyone Witter has fought since Judah.

Witter wouldn't get KO'ed by Carlos Maussa. :P

Maussa is better than anyone Witter has faced since he fought Judah (I see a pattern there).

Witters facing someone who schooled Maussa whos not as good as Kotelnik, Ndou, Corley and probably a few others. Your bias is making you look foolish

Well isn't technically Witter first mandatory officially going to be the winner of Castillo vs Njoujo (or whatever his name is).

I know that it looks very likely that if Castillo is successful (and so is Ricky) then it practically certain that Hatton will face Castillo.

However, what happens if one (or both) lose at the weekend.

stujones wrote:Well isn't technically Witter first mandatory officially going to be the winner of Castillo vs Njoujo (or whatever his name is).

I know that it looks very likely that if Castillo is successful (and so is Ricky) then it practically certain that Hatton will face Castillo.

However, what happens if one (or both) lose at the weekend.

Njouja and Urango have been picked because they have little skills and are unlikely to pose any threat.

If Ricky loses and Castillo wins, Castillo will probably jump on the man who beat Ricky or Ricky will enforce a rematch and Castillo goes after Witter. Witter would be laughing his head off if that happened.

If Castillo loses Hatton will most likely jump on the man who beat him OR fight Castillo anyway. Or he may fight Corrales and leave Njoujo to Witter.

That won't happen though its Hatton-Castillo and Witter-Harris

Harris i believe will beat Lazcano easily enough and i think has a shout at beating Witter. He got careless against Maussa and caught with a haymaker neither Lazcano or Witter hit like Maussa.

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

Taki... wrote:

Max Molyneux wrote: Witter wouldn't get KO'ed by Carlos Maussa. :P

Maussa is better than anyone Witter has faced since he fought Judah (I see a pattern there).

Witters facing someone who schooled Maussa whos not as good as Kotelnik, Ndou, Corley and probably a few others. Your bias is making you look foolish

Not really, I was only joking.

Btw, didn't you think Kotelnik got shafted when he fought Witter? I had him winning.

Taki... wrote:

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

Taki... wrote: Maussa is better than anyone Witter has faced since he fought Judah (I see a pattern there).

Witters facing someone who schooled Maussa whos not as good as Kotelnik, Ndou, Corley and probably a few others. Your bias is making you look foolish

Not really, I was only joking.

Btw, didn't you think Kotelnik got shafted when he fought Witter? I had him winning.

I had Witter winning the first 6 rounds and the final round so had it to him 7-5. Althought I'm a Witter fan I try to score objectively. Kotelnik covered up for the first 6. Witter was terrible in this fight all the same but Kotelnik did use spoiling negative tactics. In the first 6 you have to give Witter the rounds on affective aggression and ring generalship - he landed more, landed harder and was the aggressor.

Witter clearly is not comfortable as the aggressor none the less. No more counterpunchers like Kotelnik/Corley he needs to fight the likes of Harris/Hatton/Castillo/Corrales and other fighters that will press the action. Witter should look better under these circumstances

Witter wont fight the Harris - Lazcano winner........ he's fought only one top tier oponent in his entire career and we all remember how that went. He'll do everything he can to wriggle out of this mandatory, probably vacate if he's forced to!

ALI wrote:Witter wont fight the Harris - Lazcano winner........ he's fought only one top tier oponent in his entire career and we all remember how that went. He'll do everything he can to wriggle out of this mandatory, probably vacate if he's forced to!

He has tried to get fights with Hatton and Mayweather. You can critisise Witter but not for his desire to fight the best

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

ALI wrote:Witter wont fight the Harris - Lazcano winner........ he's fought only one top tier oponent in his entire career and we all remember how that went. He'll do everything he can to wriggle out of this mandatory, probably vacate if he's forced to!

He has tried to get fights with Hatton and Mayweather. You can critisise Witter but not for his desire to fight the best

Hmmmm... he's chasing the money with those 2 fights (not that I blame him), those fights are win-win situations irrespective of the result. Fighting Lazcano or Harris wouldn't generate a tenth of what a fight against Hatton or Mayweather would, but would present just as much risk.

As I posted elsewhere Hatton v Castillo is tentatively scheduled for June 2nd providing they both win this weekend.