Prizefighter Boxing: Lynes eyeing revenge against Witter

Colin Lynes is aiming to go one step further in his second appearance in Prizefighter – and hopes to take out Junior Witter on his way to glory on June 7 at York Hall, Bethnal Green.

Lynes and Witter are part of the line-up for the second outing of the Welterweights in Prizefighter and the 19th edition of the series, live on Sky Sports, and for Lynes, it’s a second crack at Prizefighter after losing out to Gavin Rees in the Light-Welterweights final in December 2009.

Fight fans hoping to catch the last Prizefighter of the series need to act fast though, as promoters Matchroom Sport have a limited number of tickets left priced £35 unreserved, £60 ringside and £100 VIP – to book call Matchroom Sport on 01277 359900.

Hornchurch’s Lynes will be aiming to go one better in his second crack at the tournament, and he hopes to take care of unfinished business with Witter in the process. The pair met at the east London venue in 2005 for the Yorkshireman’s British, Commonwealth and European titles and Witter held on to them with a unanimous points decision.

“I’d love to get it on with Junior Witter and avenge that loss,” Lynes told Steve Bunce’s BBC London Boxing Hour. “I pushed him all the way but I was a bit in awe of him and I didn’t step it up in the later rounds, like Timothy Bradley did when he beat him. But I’m a more experienced fighter now and although I really respect Junior I wouldn’t be holding back this time, I’d be straight on him.

“Going into the fight I believed I could win of course, but any close rounds you start giving them to the Champion, but I really needed to put my foot on the gas and take over some of those rounds.”

Lynes and Witter won’t have it all their own way on the night though, with a strong line-up gunning for the trophy and the £32,000 winner’s cheque. Boxing pundit Steve Bunce has run the rule over the eight contenders in the latest Prizefighter Podcast, which also includes interviews with Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch, Kell ‘Special K’ Brook and a look back at the International Heavyweights won by Mike Perez. The podcast can be downloaded for free on iTunes via the link on the official Prizefighter website homepage – www.prizefighter.co.uk

Former British champion Kevin McIntyre, unbeaten prospects John Wayne Hibbert (Essex) and Bobby Gladman (Cheshunt), popular north London-based Moroccan Yassine El Maachi, Bermondsey’s Irish European title challenger Peter McDonagh and Aylesbury’s Nathan Graham complete the line-up for June 7 – and Lynes has told them what to expect.

“Prizefighter is exciting and it’s reaching out to a new boxing audience,” said Lynes. “It’s make or break. For fighters who still think they’ve got it, Prizefighter is the first thing that shows you haven’t so you have to make sure you don’t fall into that category.

“Regardless of who you’ve got, I wouldn’t try to box anybody. In the final against Rees, I thought ‘he’s a short fella so if I box him, I’ll outclass him’ but in the final of Prizefighter – and indeed all the fights – you cannot afford to go behind in that opening round. Gavin would be the first to admit that he felt some of the punches as I finished really strong, but that first round I tried to box his head off, but in Prizefighter you have got to get straight to it and put them under pressure from the first bell.

“You need to go at it every round in every fight, but that’s my cup of tea and why I enjoy it so much. It’s making me do stuff I wouldn’t normally do, it’s a different style of training to the 12 rounders, it keeps you young, keeps you lively and excited and it’s great or the public.”

Tickets for Prizefighter Welterweights II at York Hall, Bethnal Green in east London are available from Matchroom Sport priced £35 unreserved, £60 ringside and £100 VIP – to buy call Matchroom Sport on 01277 359900.