The only thing frightening thing about that fight was that Witter was actually boxing in an entertaining fashion as opposed to his usual posturing and switch hitting style that turned so many tv's off when he comes on. Maussa was the underdog when he smashed Harris up, (two years before Witter) it was a good win for him, it was also a good win for Witter. When Witter was dining on his victory Hatton had just destroyed Castillo and was three months away from fighting Floyd Mayweather :smoke
Sadly, we can't do this for any British boxer. Calzaghe fought Woodhall, Starie, Eubank, Reid. He cleaned out his domestic rivals. Lewis fought Bruno and McCrory. Benn, Eubank and Watson fought each other. Hatton DUCKED his biggest rival. He fought the softer touches Thaxton and Magee (and struggled with both), he knew what was good for him.
Ive got no problem with Hatton not wanting to give Witter a career best payday.If he doesnt like him and doesnt have to,thats the best way to hurt him. Yes he could be punching him instead,but Other fighters will be doing that to Witter instead of Hatton anyway,with Witter dusting himself off and looking at an enlarged bank account. Delahoya had a mutual hatred of Vargas and (to a lesser degree) Floyd, but having those guys as opponents made them huge events and a few extra mil for Oscar so it made sense,but thats not the case with Hatton/Witter. Witter would be a tough fight i agree yet bring little to the table,so why give somebody you hate a life changing payday when all you get back is a hard nights work?
You made his excuses sound real fluffy, but when it came down to it you admit he didn't want to take the risk :good He ducked him. All this "payday" nonsense is just a reason for his ducking, and a poor one at that
I am the biggest Witter nuthugger on here but this is getting out of hand. The truth of the matter is that the only time that this fight made any sense whatsoever to Hatton was just after Witter had been beaten by Judah and Hatton had beaten Thaxton...it should have been for the British title, and before Ricky went down the WBU route. IMO Hatton has not ducked Witter in the traditional knocking knees sense rather I don't think that he saw the fight as creating enough ££££, ever...Witter struggles to fill a phonebox and just doesn't generate enough cash, he never has. IF Witter has another shot at a world strap and wins then I think that the fight would then probably make sense to both fighters.
No.I concede it would be a tough fight,but that doesnt nullify my other points which i stand by. Or....... i'll admit he 'ducked' Witter,but only to **** Witter off and deprive him of money and the oxygen of exposure. He fought Floyd and Pac,but those tough fights brought big financial renumeration with the risk.Witter doesnt.
Witter will win the WBC strap back in his next fight so we will have to wait and see.My money says Hatton avoids him as he does not want to get KTFO again so will fight a far lesser fighter than Witter ie: someone in the same class as Lazcano.
I will read through the thread at some point,I'm sure there is a lot of bashing of both men. From a neutral standpoint,can I just say I would have really liked to have seen this one at some point.I might even lean slightly towards Witter and I don't like the bloke
It's amazing that Hatton gets such credit for cherrypicking the worst fighters and beltholders in many cases just because they are ranked or hold belts as if that is an indication of quality, yet when its pointed out Witter was ranked #1 by Ring Magazine, or that he held the most prestigious belt, it then moves towards the next wave of excuses which includes "he's boring", "not well known in America" (Yeah Ric, ****ing Maussa is a massive draw), or best yet, "He hurt my feelings at an award ceremony so I don't want to pay him *boohoo*". He was hardly despertely seeking to fight Witter when he had the exact same boxes ticked as Maussa, Urango, Collazo etc. No no, he fought Juan Lazcano instead, and a wise move it proved to be. It truely is a staggering and pathetic list of excuses.