Lewis Ritson's Performance

Spot on. He needs to Change something. Maybe employ someone for strength and conditioning / nutritionist, learn how to do the 10/12 rounds and go back down in weight. Otherwise his career isn’t going to last very long.

 

Gets hit far too much, needs to work on his defence.

 

Aye it was a very flat performance. Ritson was there to be hit all night, plodding forward, no head movement, one paced and I think his stamina could be better. His workrate really dropped in the second half of the fight, which made him even easier to hit. Lots of improvements for Ritson to make if he's to make it any further in the game.

 

Thought he was very poor. Agree with the general concentious, his movement, defense and ring IQ were poor. I am not a big fan of fighters jumping trainers, I think it's done too often as an excuse, but in Ritsons case I think its what's needed.

 

Someone posted in the RBR that his punch power seemed to disappear in the second half of the fight also. It was noticeable last night and against Patera. He really was disappointing last night.

 

Ritson was hailed on here as the next coming by Billy Nelson at one stage along with Martin Bakolie but the big man cannot get them all right.

Looks like the Eh day Hearn hype was tripe and he is simply not another Kevin Keegan or Alan Shearer - more Paul Dalglish

 

I’m not ready to write the lad off. He blitzed the domestic scene albeit in a lower weight class but you could see he was easy a level above. The thing with Ritson is that he has a very exciting plan A, he brings the fight to his opponent and he’s great to watch. However, like Cheeseman in his defeat against Garcia, a lack of a plan B or C is evident when plan A isn’t working. A very durable opponent who can absorb those shots and is willing to mix it with him doesn’t really make him look good at all. He really needs more variety in his work. If applying pressure means you’re taking needless shots, use your feet more and the jab, set traps and invite them in. I love Shawn Porter’s style when he mauls an opponent but I also like that he can box intelligently on the outside and pick his shots.

This is all experience for Ritson, and hopefully he’ll learn from it.

 

Eddie mentioned him fighting the winner of Robbie Davis v Joe Hughes. Not sure that's a wide fight based on his last 2 performances.

 

Great analogy m8. I'm not saying weight wasn't an issue at LW but the biggest one were the lack of fundamentals or using fundamentals correctly. He has reach on most opponents, has a ram rod jab and hits hard, so needs to utilise them more. I would like to see him go to someone like Dave Coldwell or Joe Gallagher to improve on what he has got and on what he hasn't got in his armoury yet. Like you I wont be writing him off just yet.

 

Robbie Davis might end Ritsons career.

 

Just think he is not that good mate and been found out not to be the Great North East Hope that Eh day was shouting about from the top of the Tyne Bridge.

As soon as he comes up against any fighter that does not crumble, he deteriorates by the minute.

 

Yeah, that’s what I mean mate. It’s disheartening when your one and only plan isn’t working. If he could add another dynamic or plan B. Being compared to GGG didn’t help. Their own similarity is that they both apply pressure...that’s where it ends because GGG’s footwork and defence is tremendous.

 

The worrying aspect of the last two fights is that Plan A may be the reason he has no Plan B or C. He's emptying his tank in the first three round trying to blast his opponent and it appears there's nothing left from r the rest of the fight. his journeyman opponent was walking through his shots later in the fight as patera did previously. He may need to pace himself more, maybe then he can carry the power longer into the fight?

 

I was chatting about this in last night's RbR . In the last two fights he hasn't worked out he doesn't have the power he thinks he has. Up until recently, he has been steamrolling over lower calibre fighters which has given him a false sense of confidence thinking he can blast everyone out the ring and thus have no need to develop a plan B. Last night was a bit of a repetition of what happened before, he wastes too much energy on making every shot a power punch and eventually he runs out of gas in the later rounds. He will need to change his style if he progresses and fights tougher opponents. He is young enough to make some changes, but now is a crucial time for him to adapt his technique. I'd personally like to see him work on his footwork, pace himself, show more patience and vary his attacks.