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It has been a busy couple of weeks for Junior Witter, the ever-confident Bradford native. Not content with calling out his fellow countryman Ricky Hatton, Witter went one-step further, challenging the boxing aficionado’s sweetheart Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight any place, any time. You can hardly blame Junior for growing impatient. After all, his undoubted talent has afforded him just one world title shot – |
a points loss to Zab Judah four years ago. Since that pivotal night in Witter’s career, he has piled up the victories, slowly climbing the ranks, collecting the British, Commonwealth and European titles along the way. High time he was again in the light welterweight World title mix, “The Hitter’ was kind enough to speak to Saddoboxing.com ahead of his European title defence this Friday against Krzysztof Bienias.
SaddoBoxing: First of all, how’s your training been going for your upcoming fight with Krzysztof Bienias?
Junior Witter: It’s been going well. Sparring’s been brilliant and everything’s gone according to plan really.
SB: Have you worked on anything in particular?
JW: No, I haven’t actually. I’ve done what I generally do, which is get fit and such. I feel, as long as I’m on form, I’m not bothered what my opponent’s gonna do.
SB: What can you tell us about your opponent? I know he lost to Urkal last year on points.
JW: He beat Romanov. He beat him early on. He’s a tall, rangy, very orthodox, very correct style boxer, who boxes off his back foot, rather than coming forward a lot.
SB: Do you expect any problems at all?
JW: No, not at all.
SB: Does he not have any particular strengths that you might have to watch out for?
JW: I think the thing with him, more than anything else, is he’s one of them people that are gonna be deceptively good. He didn’t really stand out in any particular area. But everything’s good about him.
SB: Four years ago, when you lost to Zab Judah, you received a fair bit of criticism for your performance. Do you feel that was warranted?
JW: No, it wasn’t. The thing was, nobody expected me to do four rounds. At best, people were saying that I might last till the third. No one said I’d get to the fourth. There’s a lot of aspects of that fight that I did well in, which people have overlooked completely. But that was then, I’ve learned a lot from it. I’ve moved on and I’m a lot better boxer now.
SB: So do you think that fight did you more good than it did harm?
JW: It did me plenty of good, and it did me plenty of harm. As a fighter, it did me the world of good. On the emotions side, it did me the world of harm. But you take what knocks you get in life.
SB: Do you think it tarnished your reputation in the American market?
JW: It probably did a little bit. But what can you do? I mean, you take your chances and what happens, happens.
SB: Do you feel a bit hard done by that, given your record and your rank, you’ve not had another world title shot as of yet?
JW: I do. But I think over the last four years I’ve concentrated a bit too much on Ricky Hatton. It’s just one of those things you learn in life. I mean, I still want the fight. If the fight comes up, I’ll still take it. But it’s been a good year, what with me winning the European title and already holding the British and the Commonwealth.
SB: You actually mentioned Ricky Hatton last week, talking about how you would like a fight with him. Do you feel that’s a realistic possibility, given that he’s going to be looking to fight Tszyu, possibly early next year?
JW: I can’t see it happening (laughs). I can’t see it happening.
SB: Do you think he’s been ducking you or do you think it’s just been bad timing, given that he’s going after Tszyu or even Cotto?
JW: The thing is, he’s not after Cotto because he could have had the Cotto fight. He could have fought Zab Judah, but he turned that one down. I just don’t know what it is with him. I think he’s avoiding anyone he thinks is dangerous. And I fit into that category.
SB: How do you think you compare to Hatton as a fighter?
JW: As a fighter?
SB: Yeah.
JW: I’m quicker, slicker, more powerful and, all round, just a better boxer. Whereas his strengths are his dogged determination and the fact that he’s got a high work rate.
SB: You also called out Mayweather last week. What’s your take on him?
JW: Mayweather’s excellent (laughs). The thing is, he’s not big enough. I don’t see him being big enough for this weight. He’s done well, but he’s not impressed me with his power and I don’t think he’s been hit with a decent shot
SB: Do you see a fight with him coming off?
JW: Yeah. It’s definitely a possibility. It’s just a case now of what happens between Gatti, him and myself. I’m ranked number 3. So if I get my European defence out of the way, then it’s the winner between Gatti and Mayweather that has to box me.
SB: Do you think the problem has been, given that you said the Judah fight might have tarnished your reputation and that you’re a high-risk fight, that it is a very risky fight for the belt holders to take with you?
JW: It probably is. But there’s many aspects within boxing. It’s not just if someone’s dangerous it’s about being in the right place at the right time. And it just hasn’t worked out for me. On the promotion side, things hadn’t been good enough until I teamed up with Hennessy sports this year.
SB: Did you watch the Tszyu-Mitchell fight?
JW: Oh, how could I miss it?
SB: What did you think of it?
JW: I thought Kostya Tszyu was brilliant. In his last fight when I saw him, I just thought he looked old, he looked flabby, he didn’t look in shape. And I just thought, “Two years later down the line, he’s not gonna be the same fighter.” And he came back a lot better, a lot stronger. And I just thought he trained and did everything he needed to do, and he went out and performed. Sharmba, on the other hand, went out there and froze. He stood right in the wrong range, didn’t use his feet, didn’t use his solid jab, did nothing, did nothing to deter Kostya Tszyu. Kostya Tszyu was allowed to do what he wanted to: perfect timing, stepped forward, right hand right down the line.
SB: It’s strange that Trinidad came back looking better than ever after a two-year lay-off, and then Kostya Tszyu comes back after two years also looking better than ever. Why do you think a lay-off like that seems to do a fighter so much good?
JW: It all depends on the make-up of the person. It just depends on how much of a decent lifestyle you live. I think the main difference is where Tszyu has still been looking for fights, apart from injuries, Trinidad retired. The fact that Trinidad’s comeback after retirement and boxed the way he did proves that his lifestyle suits him, where he will always stay fit and always stay active. Whereas you could take some of the other fighters, like some of the British level fighters, if they don’t box for two months, three months, you see them a stone and a half overweight, they’re always in the pub, always drinking, this and that. And that’s the difference between being an outstanding world champion and being able to come back, to someone who’s gonna go and not be able to come back.
SB: Ok, I’m gonna throw a few names at you and I’d like you to give your thoughts on them: Miguel Cotto.
JW: Tough fighter, he’s a tough fighter, good chin, good reactions. Still inexperienced, for me, and, umm, dangerous! Strong. Strong puncher.
SB: Gatti.
JW: Gatti is strong, a strong puncher. I think he’s getting a bit long in the tooth now. He’s not a natural light welterweight. Well, he is a natural light welterweight actually. But I feel his best days were at lightweight. And I see flaws all the way through his game now.
SB: Vivian Harris. A lot of people feel he’s the weakest of the belt holders, that he’s only holding it until he comes up against a real top fighter. If you had the opportunity against him, do you think there would be any problems?
JW: None whatsoever. He’s an accomplished boxer. I think he’s a good, upright, standard boxer. I don’t think he’s fit enough. I think his stamina lacks. If that opportunity comes off, I have no doubt that I’d beat him. I think he’s definitely the weakest of the champions.
SB: Is there anything you wish you’d done differently in your career. For example, I read that you wish you had turned pro earlier.
JW: I suppose, if you look at things I’d have done differently, I’d have turned pro earlier. I’d have won the Judah fight (laughs). The main thing I’d have done is I have turned pro earlier, which would have given me more time to learn the game coming up through my late teens. “Cause it is completely different from amateur to the pro game, it is a completely different game. And I’d no real contact with the professional game as an amateur. When I turned pro is when I started to learn about the professional game. And that’s why for the first few years I was taking my time, going the distance, beating people on points and learning the game.
SB: You seem to be a lot more powerful in the second half of your career. Is that something that you consciously tried to work on?
JW: It is something I’ve worked on. But it’s always been there. It’s always been there, it’s always been underlying. I was a decent puncher as an amateur because I was confident in what I was doing and how exactly I needed to do it. And Now I’m a confident pro I can let my power come through.
SB: How long do you plan to go on for?
JW: As long as I feel really. Until I start getting beaten up, until someone comes along and starts beating me up and I get a few people who can beat me up. At the stage I’m at now, I could see myself going on for another five, six, seven years. There’s no one out there, no one that I’m running from. There’s good fights out there – I’m not saying there isn’t. But I just feel, at this particular moment in time, I might be thirty but I’m not beaten up, I haven’t had hard fights. I haven’t had one where I’ve taken bruises, lumps and cuts, all that type of aggro that your body can’t take too much of. I’m going in there with good champions and I’m defeating them with ease. What I really need now is to fight the superstars.
SB: Ideally, out of all the big fights in the light welterweight division, who would you most like to fight?
JW: Right now it would have to be Gatti. But, in saying that, Kostya Tszyu, Kostya Tszyu would have to be the man.
SB: How do you think a fight between you and Tszyu would go, do you think it would go the distance or do you think you have a chance of stopping him?
JW: It might go the distance, it might not. It’s one of those that could go the distance and has the potential of going the distance. He has been stopped before, he has been hurt, he has been rocked. I’ve been caught and he can punch, I can punch. It would be a great fight
SB: Just to wrap up, how would you like to be remembered as a fighter?
JW: I would like to be remembered as a champion who did what he said he’d do and that would fight anybody.
SB: Well, thank you on the behalf of Saddoboxing.com and good luck on Friday.
JW: Thank you.
Junior Witter will be defending his European title against Krzysztof Bienias this Friday 12th of November at the Conference Centre in London.
James MacDonald can be reached at ac009b5460@blueyonder.co.uk
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