Again just looking at it from a business perspective...your saying witter was a nightmare for him. Say thats true. Plus bearing in mind witter was tricky and he could spoil a fight. After mayweather....hattons name was big time. They broke records with the ppv,s etc. One of the best promoted fights in recent years. Why would anyone risk putting him in with someone that could spoil a fight like witter could. Or as you said would have been a nightmare for him. Just doesnt make sense. Think it comes back to.....if your a fighter like witter...tricky/spoiler if necessary...you really need to fight your way into a position to get the big fights. Witter never really quite done that. He just fell short by not getting at least one real big win. The truth is witter got oppertunities...against judah, against bradley, against alexander and failed everytime including completely spoiling at least one of them fights. He had a decent career witter...and was a good fighter...but his career pretty much showed he wasn,t good enough to beat hatton. On the other hand hatton beat similar and better level than witter in entertaining fashion....and went on to beat tyzu etc. Massive name....then moved forward with his career. No one in that position should be giving someone like witter a chance without witter forcing it. He didnt quite get there. Was fighting the type of guys ricky had already beaten a good few years before.
Witter Hatton would have been a great fight after the Mayweather loss as others have said, or before that. Hatton would have easily won in my opinion, but it'd have been a big fight and one the fans were after for a long time. Fans always want to see the top fighters at the time fight one another. I'm just glad the 2012 shells of them that lost to Gavin and Senchenko didn't have a pointless payday/rubber fight.
Eubank is a bit underrated just because he lost close fights against two world level operators. He’s been doubted a fair bit but there’s still room for improvement, and with his work rate and chin he’s a hard nights work for anyone.
Just out of curiosity why do some people think Groves vs Eubank was a close fight? There were at least 2 legit knockdown that weren't counted by the ref. I mean one of the rounds he won (the 12th) was by virtue of Groves arm popping out of its socket beforehand. The fight wasn't even close imo.
Groves is just a better boxer, but if say that fight was a 15 rounder then Eubanks grit and brute force would have got him out of there.
I thought Jr won maybe 2 rounds, from memory. Like you said, should have been 2 KD's too and even with Groves' shoulder being out of socket the 12th wasn't even a clear round for him. Groves actually stiffens his legs a bit if I remember rightly
How about Henry Wharton? Totally froze for five rounds against Benn by going from Leeds Town Hall to a packed Earls Court, and came up against a Eubank who had his weight monitored through camp for the first time ever so was his best ever. Never the same after the horrific Eubank beating I felt, but still fought out of his skin that night. Before that he was knocking guys unconscious or out of the ring with treble hooks on Grandstand This content is protected Any other era he'd of been a world champion
Tbf regarding groves v eubank junior. Groves has been fighting since he was a kid. Was also a very talented fighter who had a very difficult style to fight against as most people that fought him found out. On the other hand eubank was very late to boxing. Tbf to eubank he gets a lot of critiscm etc...but the ground hes made up since his late starts actually pretty astonishing. Dont think he,ll ever get any really big wins....but to even be competing with billy joe etc...beating a few names he has is pretty commendable tbh. Hes had a half decent career so far considering his late start. Without the dedication hes shown to the sport i doubt he,d have got anywhere near where he is. Hes naturally stiff as a board.
He's terrible. Awful. I don't see what Mike McCallum was seeing when he was raving about him in 2007. He strangely only lost in the National US GG's to Benson the US #1 who was 5yrs older than him, in about his 10th fight ever Maybe he had a jab and footwork back then?
He also beat the living daylights out of Groves in sparring just before Groves-DeGale fight, as strange as it may seem. Jr had not even turned pro! Maybe he's better with headgear and away from the spotlight?
Groves was a lot bigger on the night too. Overall I’d say that fight had more to do with GG being excellent than CEJ being bad. At middleweight think he’s good enough to snatch a legit belt.
