British fight fans in Newcastle (and those from around the world who also caught the fight) witnessed The 2019 British Fight of The Year on October 19th. 140 pound warriors Lewis Ritson and Robbie Davies Junior gave their all in a 12-round slugfest. Ritson, who was having his third fight up at 140 following a shock, weight drained defeat to Francesco Patera in October of 2018, prevailed in the domestic barnburner, via 12 round unanimous decision in a fight that was ultra-competitive all the way.
Ritson and Davies Jr went right at it from the opening bell and the action was furious. Neither man would take a backward step or stop slinging punches. It really was breathtaking stuff. And on and on it went – for all 12 rounds. With barely a clinch in sight, in the first half-dozen rounds in particular, the passionate Newcastle fans sure got their money’s worth; as did any fan who took the time to tune in.
It was a closer fight than the scores of the three judges would indicate, but Ritson did enough to win, Still, both men were elevated by the great fight; with fine sportsmanship before, during and after the warfare.
Fight fans had a superb spell of action during the second half of 2019 – with the likes of the Errol Spence-Shawn Porter rumble, the Gennady Golovkin-Sergiy Derevyanchenko war and the Artur Beterbiev Olkesandr Gvozdyk showdown – yet the domestic thriller deserves to be ranked right up there with all of them in everything except world honours. Also, as promoter Eddie Hearn said after this cracker of a fight, it came at a good time for the sport (Patrick Day having recently and sadly passed away). “In a bad week for boxing, these two reminded us how great this sport really is,” Hearn said.
Indeed. Ritson and Davies Jr. gave us The British FOTY.
How far can Ritson, 20-1(12) and Davies Jr. go in 2020? Certainly there is no doubting the fighting heart and courage of either man. Who knows, maybe these two will fight again some time in the new year?