By Andrew Wake: Britain’s World Boxing Council light welterweight champion Junior “The Hitter” Witter feels that he is the man to do what his countryman and arch rival Ricky Hatton couldn’t by beating pound for pound king “Pretty boy” Floyd Mayweather. In an interview with South Yorkshire newspaper The Star, 33 year old Witter said “I get up for a challenge and they do not get any bigger than Floyd Mayweather. I’d rate it 60-40… in my favour.”
He added: “The fight nearly happened in 2006 when I became his mandatory opponent but Mayweather had to pull out through injury and then moved up a weight.
“My promoter plans to talk to Mayweather’s advisers to see if we can get it on again.
“Mayweather has said he wants to come and box in England, so this would be the perfect opportunity for him.”
Asked whether he saw any problems in fighting at the higher weight of 147 pounds the Bradford native, who has lost only once in his career when he was out pointed by Zab Judah seven years ago, replied “I would still have the power and the speed at that weight so its no problem.”
My take? Well, considering that “The Hitter” has been unable to lure Ricky Hatton home for what would be a massive all British match up, I feel the likelihood of a modern great like Floyd Mayweather Jnr jumping on a plane and coming across the pond is very, very slim.
That said, Mayweather has expressed his newly found love of the British and has stated that he would like to showcase his talents on these shores if he doesn’t retire immediately, the key problems though are 1) Witter sells less tickets than your average third tier soccer team and 2) fights with either Paul Williams or Miguel Cotto would generate more of what the “Pretty boy” loves best…Money.