by James Slater – Known among fight fans mostly for his great battle with Amir Khan, where he scored a knockdown and gave Khan all the trouble he could handle, Scotland’s Willie Limond has just been given the opportunity to make an even bigger name for himself. According to a news article on The Evening Times On-Line, Limond has been approached with an offer to face the big-punching Dimitriy Salita on the huge Calzaghe-Jones bill on September 20th in New York..
As great and potentially rewarding as this proposition may be, however, Limond has had to give the offer some serious thought.
Speaking to The Evening Times, Limond told of his dilemma.
“It’s a really exciting opportunity and one that I know if I pass up on I will regret for the rest of my life,” Limond said. “But at the same time it is a really dangerous one. Salita is a natural light-welterweight at 140 pounds while the lightweight limit I box at is 135 pounds. So obviously I would be taking a chance in stepping up against an opponent who is unbeaten in 28 fights and has stopped 16 opponents.”
Unsure of what to do right away, the 29-2(8) Limond called up his good friend Ricky Hatton to ask for advice.
“I phoned Ricky to fine out what he knew about Salita as they box at the same weight,” Limond continued. “Of course Ricky has fought in the U.S and he reckons I should go for it. Ricky told me the chance to fight at The Garden is just too good to turn down and I’d love to be able to tell my boys I fought at the place where legends like Ali and Frazier battled it out. So it is a bit of a case of the heart versus the head, but I need to make my mind up before the end of the week. The Calzaghe-Jones fight is the biggest card left this year and to be part of that would be massive.”
A fight with the Ukraine-born Salita, who now lives in Brooklyn, sure would be a massive gamble for Limond. The unbeaten 26-year-old has boxed as high as welterweight in the past, and would have a big advantage over the Scot in terms of size and physical strength. The 29-year-old did have one fight up at 145 pounds three years ago, but all his other pro bouts have taken place at 135 pounds or below.
Limond has one helluva decision to make, but should he indeed decide to go for it, at least he can be assured of plenty of fan support from all the Brits that will be at Madison Square Garden on September 20th!