BoxRec

I thought Witter was past his prime, he seemed to have lost his timing, speed, power in recent fights. He has never shown in the past he can keep his power past the first 4-5rounds. He looked to be unable to have stamina late in fights but in his last 2 he has ko'd opponents in rounds 7-8, and looked to pace himself better

Last night he looked the best hes ever looked. The power, footwork and speed were clearly world class, which some doubted. But maybe more impressively was the fact he carried his power late on.

I think Witters just hit his prime, hes learnt how to pace himself, relax and he can use his unorthodox switch hitting skills throughout a fight now.

as you said - he has learnt to pace himself. I think what we will see from Witter is a more technical boxer than before... like Hopkins is not as active as he used to be. Unless Witter faces come-forward opponents like this, I dont see him stopping more stand-offish fighters.

To answer your question - he is past his prime, IMO but is enjoying a new peak thanks to applying his skills better.

No, he's definitely passed his prime.

Rewatch round 6 of that fight. If Harris didn't come out swinging in 7 (Which created the openings for Witter to finish it) then I think you would of seen Witters stamina become an issue.

He was throwing a lot less and taking big gulps of air in the 6th. I'd worry about him if he was fighting a wold class stamina machine and didn't have him out of there before the second half of the fight.

Cannibal wrote:No, he's definitely passed his prime.

Rewatch round 6 of that fight. If Harris didn't come out swinging in 7 (Which created the openings for Witter to finish it) then I think you would of seen Witters stamina become an issue.

He was throwing a lot less and taking big gulps of air in the 6th. I'd worry about him if he was fighting a wold class stamina machine and didn't have him out of there before the second half of the fight.

but he still beats hatton IMO at 140lbs

I think he's as good as he's going to be now. It's great to see him blend boxing and power punching. This is what we wanted from Naz, but he became a one punch banger.

Witter has that kind of style where he doesn't want to fight three minutes. I just think he's found the right balance and he was in with an opponent whom he needed to do something good against.

I defy any fighter to try and punch as hard as Witter does for 12 full rounds. It's just not possible. He was trying to set Harris up for big bombs all through the fight and with the amount of switching and moving he does, he's bound to tire.

But what I will say is that his punch selection was much better and he didn't waste too much energy when he hurt Harris last night. He didn't go mad for like, two minutes, when he hurt him, he sat back and worked for openings rather than go mad, which he has been prone to do.

Witter is the kind of fighter who fights up or down to his opponent's level.

Tough opponent for any 10stoner Witter is and has been for several years now - including Hatton (but I still take the Hitman to wear Witter down).

Depending on how Hatton gets on against Mayweather, I'd still like to see Hatton and Witter get it on. It's a perfect blend of styles/grudge/fight for national bragging rights that would be great to watch.

Now there's every reason to have a big domestic rivalry.

Hatton would have big problems with anyone who can fight well from a southpaw stance.

Fcuk Hatton, he went to Setanta, for money and we had to pay.

He must have known about the 3900 ticket allocation for the PBF foight, but he is STILL a Man of the peole and a woprking class hero.


Socialist?

When it suits him.

Make all the money you can, just be honest about it.

PLUS, Witter would knock him OUT!

Bollocks to Hatton, does he care about non Hatton fans think?


British Boxing needs Witter Vs Hatton.

Remember Hatton and his 'if Junior gets a belt, I will fight him ' speech?

Junior wins the belt and Hatton runs the other way.

Witter batters Hatton.

Not "Just hitting his prime" but probably at a similar stage to Joe Calzaghe is currently. Could be aruged that he is "still in" his prime, could be argued he is just, but not very, passed his prime.

Witters run post Judah and pre Ndou had some scintillating performances - unfortuantely against no names for the large part. I not sure Witter is any better now than that fight, but not ALOT worse.

I personally think the doubts about his stamina could have always been there and not just an age thing. Most of the time in his younger days he would either blow them away or throw punches with much less authority than he does now, this is not as hard as throwing mallicious intent shots with your feet planted.

Don't get me wrong, its MUCH BETTER news that Witter finished off Harris in style - but would have been interesting if he could have maintained that pace into 8th etc... I thought he was starting to gas in the 6th.

DG. wrote:Fcuk Hatton, he went to Setanta, for money and we had to pay.

He must have known about the 3900 ticket allocation for the PBF foight, but he is STILL a Man of the peole and a woprking class hero.


Socialist?

When it suits him.

Make all the money you can, just be honest about it.

PLUS, Witter would knock him OUT!

Bollocks to Hatton, does he care about non Hatton fans think?


British Boxing needs Witter Vs Hatton.

Remember Hatton and his 'if Junior gets a belt, I will fight him ' speech?

Junior wins the belt and Hatton runs the other way.

Witter batters Hatton.

Hatton probably doesn't care about the fight deals as long as theres loads of zeros on the contract.

Just the way they go on about what deal makes them the most money that makes me wonder If that could be true.

Hatton might go for Witter after Floyd, assuming he loses. I think it will either be Witter or Retirement. If I was a betting man I think Hatton would chose the latter option initially, but might comeback to face Witter. think it will bite at Hatton's concious so much if he retires on a losing note without facing Witter.

Max Molyneux wrote:

DG. wrote:Fcuk Hatton, he went to Setanta, for money and we had to pay.

He must have known about the 3900 ticket allocation for the PBF foight, but he is STILL a Man of the peole and a woprking class hero.


Socialist?

When it suits him.

Make all the money you can, just be honest about it.

PLUS, Witter would knock him OUT!

Bollocks to Hatton, does he care about non Hatton fans think?


British Boxing needs Witter Vs Hatton.

Remember Hatton and his 'if Junior gets a belt, I will fight him ' speech?

Junior wins the belt and Hatton runs the other way.

Witter batters Hatton.

Hatton probably doesn't care about the fight deals as long as theres loads of zeros on the contract.

Just the way they go on about what deal makes them the most money that makes me wonder If that could be true.

I think Hatton is a PR Monkey.

The British boxing fans are gagging for Hatton v Witter and have been for a good while now - Hatton talks about being the best LW in the world and Witter does the same so why not settle two issues in one go - Lets see who is the best in Britain which = who is the best in the world - After the Mayweather fight Hatton will have been the best paid British fighter of all time - He must have a small fortune in the bank by now so surely he can take a cut in pay to give the fans the fight we all want to see - Never mind the crap about not giving Witter the chance of a big payday - You called out Mayweather Ricky, he agreed and you have the fight you want - Witter in the past did the same and you turned him down - Witter is the WBC LW champ and says he is the best in Britain and the World, so after Mayweather forget your personal issues with Witter and give your fans in Britain the fight that will IMO even top Eubank/Benn.

WildWaylon wrote:The British boxing fans are gagging for Hatton v Witter and have been for a good while now - Hatton talks about being the best LW in the world and Witter does the same so why not settle two issues in one go - Lets see who is the best in Britain which = who is the best in the world - After the Mayweather fight Hatton will have been the best paid British fighter of all time - He must have a small fortune in the bank by now so surely he can take a cut in pay to give the fans the fight we all want to see - Never mind the crap about not giving Witter the chance of a big payday - You called out Mayweather Ricky, he agreed and you have the fight you want - Witter in the past did the same and you turned him down - Witter is the WBC LW champ and says he is the best in Britain and the World, so after Mayweather forget your personal issues with Witter and give your fans in Britain the fight that will IMO even top Eubank/Benn.

Hatton does not care about the UK Fans.

PBF beats his arse and then he retires without fighting Witter.

DG. wrote:

WildWaylon wrote:The British boxing fans are gagging for Hatton v Witter and have been for a good while now - Hatton talks about being the best LW in the world and Witter does the same so why not settle two issues in one go - Lets see who is the best in Britain which = who is the best in the world - After the Mayweather fight Hatton will have been the best paid British fighter of all time - He must have a small fortune in the bank by now so surely he can take a cut in pay to give the fans the fight we all want to see - Never mind the crap about not giving Witter the chance of a big payday - You called out Mayweather Ricky, he agreed and you have the fight you want - Witter in the past did the same and you turned him down - Witter is the WBC LW champ and says he is the best in Britain and the World, so after Mayweather forget your personal issues with Witter and give your fans in Britain the fight that will IMO even top Eubank/Benn.

Hatton does not care about the UK Fans.

PBF beats his arse and then he retires without fighting Witter.

Frustrating isnt it, but thats boxing - Calzaghe/Froch and Haye/Macca are also domestics we all want, but will they ever happen? - I agree as you can see from my post its time Hatton gave us the fight we want, and show he not only cares about his fans but sets about proving he really is the number 1 at LW - Billy Graham said a while back, he and Hatton have more money than they need so Hatton must be fighting purely for the glory of beating the best - If money is no longer an issue and I cant see how it can be why not fight Witter in say May next year - If he does lose against Mayweather maybe he will go back to 140 and take on Witter - His last fight at 147 against Colazzo nearly ended in disaster so this one against an even better fighter, you could say the best, could prove too much for him - My bet is if Ricky wins, and I seriously give him a good chance of doing so, a fight with Witter is very unlikey, but if he loses he will need to prove something and beating Witter would be his best way of showing at LW he is King.

Who would people rather see Hatton fight if he upsets Mayweather.

Witter, or the winner of Cotto vs Mosley.

If that option came up, then wouldn't Witter still be considered a backward step. Wouldn't it be a lot better for Hatton's legacy if he fought the winner of that fight as opposed to Witter... or will people think "oh he might not have fought one of the best fighters of a generation after his biggest win, but at least he beat Witter".

And sorry to add this, but now Gavin Rees is a world champion, would he fit into the equation somewhere? Cause technically at least that is a second world class fighter from the UK he hasn't fought.. so even after Witter he still hasn't proven himself the best in Britain, technically.

Merely questions, it does seem though that Hatton is in a no-win situation with some... He is fighting the unversally recognised #1 P4P at a devision he is not confortable in, when the champion is at the peak of his powers and in his home town.... and people are STILL not satisfied.

stujones wrote:Who would people rather see Hatton fight if he upsets Mayweather.

Witter, or the winner of Cotto vs Mosley.

If that option came up, then wouldn't Witter still be considered a backward step. Wouldn't it be a lot better for Hatton's legacy if he fought the winner of that fight as opposed to Witter... or will people think "oh he might not have fought one of the best fighters of a generation after his biggest win, but at least he beat Witter".

And sorry to add this, but now Gavin Rees is a world champion, would he fit into the equation somewhere? Cause technically at least that is a second world class fighter from the UK he hasn't fought.. so even after Witter he still hasn't proven himself the best in Britain, technically.

Merely questions, it does seem though that Hatton is in a no-win situation with some... He is fighting the unversally recognised #1 P4P at a devision he is not confortable in, when the champion is at the peak of his powers and in his home town.... and people are STILL not satisfied.

Good post!

stujones wrote:Who would people rather see Hatton fight if he upsets Mayweather.

Witter, or the winner of Cotto vs Mosley.

If that option came up, then wouldn't Witter still be considered a backward step. Wouldn't it be a lot better for Hatton's legacy if he fought the winner of that fight as opposed to Witter... or will people think "oh he might not have fought one of the best fighters of a generation after his biggest win, but at least he beat Witter".

And sorry to add this, but now Gavin Rees is a world champion, would he fit into the equation somewhere? Cause technically at least that is a second world class fighter from the UK he hasn't fought.. so even after Witter he still hasn't proven himself the best in Britain, technically.

Merely questions, it does seem though that Hatton is in a no-win situation with some... He is fighting the unversally recognised #1 P4P at a devision he is not confortable in, when the champion is at the peak of his powers and in his home town.... and people are STILL not satisfied.

I don't think any sane person would complain about Hatton either facing Mayweather or the Mosley-Cotto winner. The problem people have is Hatton has had 7 years to fight Witter and has avoided the fight fighting journeymen and fring contenders for the most part.

If the fight had been on the horizon since 2007 there wouldn't be this annoyance with Hatton but its been on the horizon since 2000 and Hatton has literally changed his excuse for avoiding the fight 3-4 times.

So after Mayweather if he fights anyone other than Mayweather rematch/Cotto/Mosley hes avoiding the fight

Boxing comes down to risk reward but doesn't a true champion prove himself against the best whether the reward is massive or not. Hatton wouldn't be where he is without Tyszu risking his talents against Hatton in the first place

Any # of things can happen AFTER a fight.

What if Hatton outworks but gets robbed vs Floyd. Maybe he comes back and fights Witter,

Or if he beats Floyd, and DLH decides "I'm not 100% sure I can win this one, maybe I'll take a pass on Hatton." That gives an opening.

If Hatton lost closely or badly to Mayweather, who knows. Hatton-Witter could be more likely than ever, or less.


One thing. Witter has to keep this good work up. I say put him in with aggressive fighters wherever possible.

Don't bother with that overrated Silvio Branco clone, Malingnaggi.

Does anyone here think Hatton will become the best paid British fighter of all time after his fight against Mayweather?

Surely Lennox Lewis is streets ahead of everyone (even Hatton) in terms of money earned during a career.
Old Lennox picked up a cool $9 million dollars for his first ever title defence, let alone the $15 million plus purses he would have received for the Holyfield bouts and of course the Tyson fight.

Yup, can't beat the Heavyweights for purses.

Now if Hatton was a Heavyweight.....

Goz wrote:Yup, can't beat the Heavyweights for purses.

Now if Hatton was a Heavyweight.....

He is before he starts training

Good point! Couldn't the Hattons use this as a bargining tool for getting Ricky a bigger purse?!!

As a matter of interest has anyone seen any recent pictures of Hatton?

Has he blown up as much this time or does anyone know if he's keeping the weight a bit more sensible before going into training for Mayweather?

He still blew up a bit but not as much, he just looks like a regular fat bloke as opposed to the "Stay Puft Marshmellow Man"