by James Slater: He first has to get past the challenge of the very talented and supremely confident Timothy Bradley this Saturday night, but WBC light-welterweight king Junior Witter says he is very much looking forward to one day soon unifying the titles at 140 pounds. Talking to BBC Sport, the 34 year old had the following things to say..
“I’ve just got to do a job on Bradley that I know I can and will do, to move on to bigger things,” Witter told BBC. “Talk of me fighting Ricky Hatton comes and goes, but I have other things to take care of right now. He’s not that important now and there are other avenues for me. [Ricardo] Torres and [Andreas] Kotelnik are both very hard fights, and ones I want to try and unify the titles.”
Could it be then, that Witter has given up, for the time being at least, on landing a fight with Hatton? Let’s face it, Witter has done almost everything in his power to try and secure the fight – including offering to take the fight for training expenses only. But still Ricky is not interested. So, Witter moves on and must turn back the challenge of the unbeaten Timothy Bradley in the next stage of his career.
“Bradley has a great record and he’s a decent puncher,” Witter said. “He’s very confident, he thinks he’s going to be a legend and he’s coming to win. That’s just the sort of test I want at this stage of my career.”
A test he will no doubt get against the man known as “Desert Storm.” But should Junior keep his belt (he is the batting favourite for Saturday’s fight), how does he see potential fights with the likes of Torres and Kotelnik going?
“I beat Kotelnik on points a few years ago and we have already spoken to his camp about a rematch,” the WBC champion stated. ” It would be a unification fight and progression.”
There was no word in the interview of what Witter thought of Torres, aside from him saying fights against both he and Kotelnik are “very hard fights.” But there is little doubt Junior would relish a clash with the big puncher.
First, though, and to repeat, Witter must see off the massively ambitious Timothy Bradley. A loss on Saturday would ruin any and all of the switch-hitter’s future plans.