IS WITTER A “JUNIOR” CHAMP OR WILL HE GROW UP HERE?
Analysis by Charles Jay

BetUS Boxing betting Odds

WBC Light Welterweight (140-pound) Title
May 10 — Nottingham, UK
JUNIOR WITTER -700
TIMOTHY BRADLEY +500

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Junior Witter is on a campaign where he is virtually demanding a fight with Ricky Hatton. He’ll get a chance to showcase his talents to a wider audience when he meets up with undefeated American Timothy Bradley in a fight for Witter’s WBC 140-pound title. It’s going to be shown as part of a special edition of Showtime’s “ShoBox” series on Saturday night (May 10).

Witter has a record of 36-1-2, which usually would be the kind of slate that would find him being discussed as one of the better pound-for-pound fighters in the world. But he’s still got a lot to prove in order to be in a position to rate a fight with Manchester’s idol. I think Junior feels a sense of entitlement, since he and Hatton are both from the United Kingdom. But from where I sit, he’s entitled to nothing. Hatton is a figure who has managed to transcend the U.K. and make a brand name for himself in America. At this point, he is best served by fights that bring huge bucks in worldwide revenue, augmented by tuneup fights that build up to that point in between.

Witter is a fighter who is of the “tuneup” level, but he wants mega-fight money.

It just isn’t going to work.

Witter isn’t the most pleasing fighter in the world, although he has been effective against most of his opponents. He has scored wins over people like Lovemore N’Dou and DeMarcus Corley. And in his last fight he registered a seventh-round stoppage over Vivian Harris, who was at one time considered a real challenger for outright supremacy in the junior welterweight division. But Harris has outlived his usefulness as a championship-level, so what Witter proved was minimal.

When it was time for him to step up and expand his horizons, in an IBF title fight against Zab Judah, he literally ran like a thief over twelve rounds, and scared the TV audience away. Granted, it was in his 18th pro fight, and people made excuses for him because he happened to take the bout on short notice. But to me that was nonsense. As someone who has worked with fighters extensively, I can tell you that when you get an opportunity to fight for a world championship, you fight like your life depended on it, because, in a sense, it does. You never know when that moment is going to pass through again. Witter fought as if he was going to get another chance the next week, so it was okay to stink the place out. Well, he did get another chance, and has redeemed himself to an degree, but when he is talking about fighting Hatton, in a match that presumably would seek an audience extending well beyond the borders of Britain, he’s got to establish that he’s put himself on a different level.

Frankly, this fight with Bradley (28-0) isn’t going to do it. A resident of Palm Springs, CA, Bradley is known as a relatively sound boxer/puncher, but he has not really taken a severe test as a professional. In fact, his most impressive credential as a pro is that he holds something called a “WBC Youth Title.” In other words, he’s not the kind of guy who is going to produce a lot of “oohs” and “aaahs” no matter what Witter is able to do to him. And then there is the risk, because of that fact, for Witter to be taking his opponent too lightly, something that has been speculated in the British newspapers.

If that happens, he may be vulnerable. If not, Bradley is going to find himself going up against too many obstacles, one of which is the location, because Americans very rarely win a decision when they have to go overseas in an opponent’s backyard. Also, Bradley will likely have to go the distance to win, and he’s not been twelve rounds before. Then there is the question of Witter’s style, which is a combination of safety-first movement, some hitting ability and occasional switching from orthodox to southpaw and back again.

I know this sounds like a chickens**t prediction, but I’ve got to go with WITTER BY DECISION, in what I would call a mild recommendation, even if I have to lay the -700.

But he’ll have to fight a better opponent if he wants to call out Hatton.

(Charles Jay proudly contributes to Boxing Insider. He is also proudly NOT a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The preceding information has been furnished for news matter only)