should junior witter fear the unknown soldier?

Junior Witter has it all to fight for this Saturday as he takes on the lightly regarded and even lesser known American Timothy Bradley at the Nottingham Arena on Saturday. In many ways it is a ‘high risk, uncertain reward' bout for Junior, but one that is to be televised live on ITV.
Witter has been speaking about his desire for a fight with a certain Ricky Hatton for as long as many people can remember, like any constant exposure to noise the appeals sank into the background din for a long time but now, finally, it seems that people outside the UK are sitting up and taking notice of Witter's clamour for a Hatton bout.

Truly the chance has arrived for Witter to make a definitive statement, a statement many felt was made in his previous win over Vivian Harris, although in many ways, due to the disconcerting agoraphobia of his fans, the Harris fight was akin to a brilliant statement made to an empty room, a lone voice shouting in the dark of Doncaster. (It was transmitted to people by the medium of television, albeit satellite, think on - Ed.) Now, however, Witter will have a prime audience, a sizeable crowd, and a chance to really capture the imagination of the general public.

However, therein lies the rub, Witter has been given these opportunities previously only to fail to impress. He fought an unbeaten US fighter once before, in Zab Judah, only to perform so tepidly that Junior's name became synonymous with the phrase “we would prefer not to” when it came to giving out further US exposure.

Not only that, Witter also failed to grab mainstream appeal when appearing on ITV in 2005 versus Andreas Kotelnik in a fight that was for the purists only. Overall, then, Witter's previous ‘exposure' fights have seen him expose the aspects of his game people do not want to see.
Can Saturday change all this and force a belated Hatton-Witter showdown? Again the onus lies on the shoulders of Witter. Impress on ITV and the call for the Hatton bout goes mainstream. If he boxes badly versus Bradley the Hatton Camp can shrug their shoulders and point out that Witter's most entertaining work comes outside the ring, and only then when talking about Hatton.

Consequently Saturday presents the TV viewers with a chance to see a focused Witter march into the last chance saloon; he must blow Bradley aside and ask Hatton outside. The only person standing in Witter's way is this little known, therefore enigmatic, Timothy Bradley.
Bradley's nickname is ‘Desert Storm'; thus far the only allusion possible is that the nickname refers to the tumbleweed that drifts across the screen during his little seen bouts.

Or, perhaps, the name is a reference to the first Gulf War, a ‘war' so one-sided it was famously suggested that an army of 70-men (around the number of US casualties in that war) could have won it. Certainly Timothy's style has a few octaves to it, yet thus far in his career he has yet to storm any bastion of note, instead winning phoney wars stacked in his favour.

In fairness to Bradley things were motoring along nicely for him and he was put forward for a box-off against Jose Luis Castillo. Unfortunately we found out, once again, that Castillo, a warrior in the ring, is a disgrace on the scales. Consequently Bradley now faces the unenviable task of boxing away from home against a powerful and unorthodox southpaw, without having any big time experience to rely on.

On the other hand this could be a plus for Bradley, no one expects anything from him and he can live in the hope that this attitude is shared by Witter; however given the professional attitude of Witter this is very unlikely.

Since turning professional in 2004 Bradley has only recently stepped into 10-round bouts. Despite a solid win over Miguel Vazquez in his last bout Bradley is by no means a fighter ready for a title shot.
In out-scoring Vazquez and Donald Camarena in recent Shobox shown bouts Bradley has shown that he has a high work rate over 10-rounds, whether this equates to a decent motor over 12-rounds is another matter.

Stylistically Bradley tends to lunge in with his shots, carrying his chin high as he does so; thus far he has not had to run the risk of these flaws being exposed. In Witter he faces a guy whose meat and drink is supplied by guys lunging in with high chins and no guard.
Bradley's aggression has been a great friend to him in recent fights but this forward motion, coupled with a lack of defence, means that as long as Witter is sharp with his punches Bradley will find out very early just how solid his chin is at this level.

There is little between the two in terms of height and reach, an inch or so each way, yet Witter, with his patient cobra style, does utilise his height and reach much better than Bradley.
Every time he throws a one-two Bradley tends to lunge in behind the right hand, with no left hook behind it to correct his stance, consequently Bradley often lands the right hand only to fall into a clinch, or inside buffering.

It must be said, however, that Bradley can throw the one-two combination well to the body, plus he is a good body puncher in general, if he boxes clever this body attack may allow him to wrong-foot Junior.

In his win over Donald Camarena (10 x 3) we saw the best and worst of Bradley. He worked the body well throughout the fight, with his only real worry coming in round six as his southpaw opponent caught him with a straight left hand, although Bradley was a little off-balance at the time the blow caused a knockdown, one not flagged by referee David Mendoza.

Despite this blip Bradley hammered Camarena for the remainder of the fight, although there were warning signs, leading mostly with a sloppy left hook Bradley was open for much of the contest, this would be suicidal in a fight with Witter. With this said Bradley can box on the back foot, and he can do it well, although one feels that his natural motion is a forward one.

Overall, though, it is unlikely that Bradley has developed the level of boxing subtlety needed to defeat Witter. On a skill-to-skill basis Witter holds the aces in this fight; consequently it is to the intangibles that we must turn in order to see how the fight may pan out.

One thing to be taken into account is the fact that Witter has not fought since September, a concussive counter puncher needs to have his sharpness in order to look good, this is even more so the case with Witter, who can look very disjointed when his sharpness is not there. If this is the situation on Saturday we could be in for a poor nights boxing, with Bradley moving in, Witter failing to counter, and the two getting into a tangle. If Witter is sharp – and is not suffering from making the weight – then he should be able to hit Bradley hard, and hit him often, this is where the other intangible comes into play.

Bradley's chin has one or two question marks over it. Jaime Rangel rocked him at the lower level, from the southpaw stance also, so we can surmise that Witter will be able to rock him when he lands.

Also, Bradley does come in with his head when boxing southpaws, Witter will have to be careful of Bradley's dome.
Whatever Bradley brings to the table the task is clear for Witter. Witter is increasingly becoming the President of the ‘who needs him club' and could be forced to watch on the sidelines as Hatton, and Hatton's proposed foes at the weight, rake in the money, leaving Witter with the bitter taste of hunger in his mouth.

It is imperative that Witter looks sensational in Nottingham. His opponent is made for this purpose therefore the fight should result in a big win for Witter.
A loss for Witter would see him buried by an Unknown Soldier.

Hope Witter doesn't dissapoint. Should win comfortably, as long as he isn't complacent.

I bet Junior Witter...............:cool:

I pick Witter to win but IMO if he sleeps on Bradley he could be making a big mistake...Even if Bradley loses this fight though I expect him to win a world title somewhere down the line....He really lacks the experience of fighting abroad so IMO the big stage is somewhere he needs to get a bit more comfortable...Maybe some undercard bouts in Vegas or something....

It should be an entertaining bout

I think Witter should be a little afraid. I'm not fully prepared to predict a Bradley victory but I would be surprised at a upset. IMO Bradley is a very live dog!

It would be a disaster for him if he lost after he has been bragging for a long time how great he is.It would be funny he he did lose. He has looked good lately but he has had bad nights in the past.

The way this bill has been cursed a Witter loss is highly likely.

I hope he wins big, he deserves the shot at Hatton. He is the WBC champion, the number 2 in the division. That reason alone should be the reason the fight is made. Same goes for Cotto vs Mayweather.
No amount of pussy-footing around by Hatton or Mayweather should stop these 2 fights coming off. Number 1 vs Number 2 the way it should be.

If he wonders if he should fear bradley he should try and call mike oliver and andy lee and ask them for advice.

I haven't seen Bradley fight, but have read he is a very conventional orthodox fighter, not really slick or exceptionally athletic, just a solid come forward type of fighter. It's probably a good style match up for Witter, no other reason to take on an unknown prospect with a flashy record.

just for the record this article comes from seconds out and i take no credit for writing it.


"It must be said, however, that Bradley can throw the one-two combination well to the body, plus he is a good body puncher in general, if he boxes clever this body attack may allow him to wrong-foot Junior."

So has junior basically picked this guy out due to his similar hatton-esque fighting ability??

Witter has fought almost every single one of his fights on friday night live skysports infront of a handful of fans - this is juniors big chance to impress make no mistake about that.

prime time saturday night viewing on terrestrial TV, If witter is deadly serious about fighting hatton he needs to look as good as he can here and shut those critics up (including myself) who claim he is as dull as dishwater.

America wont take to junior until he has beaten a few more vivian harris and lovemore ndou`s. Eventually though people are gonna have to start taking this guy deadly seriously including team hatton.

In the mean time though witter can speed up the process by not neccesarily just winning, but looking good in the process and making those neutral fans watching the fight saturday contemplate "i wonder what witter v hatton would be like"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hattonthehammer

just for the record this article comes from seconds out and i take no credit for writing it.


"It must be said, however, that Bradley can throw the one-two combination well to the body, plus he is a good body puncher in general, if he boxes clever this body attack may allow him to wrong-foot Junior."

So has junior basically picked this guy out due to his similar hatton-esque fighting ability??

Witter has fought almost every single one of his fights on friday night live skysports infront of a handful of fans - this is juniors big chance to impress make no mistake about that.

prime time saturday night viewing on terrestrial TV, If witter is deadly serious about fighting hatton he needs to look as good as he can here and shut those critics up (including myself) who claim he is as dull as dishwater.

America wont take to junior until he has beaten a few more vivian harris and lovemore ndou`s. Eventually though people are gonna have to start taking this guy deadly seriously including team hatton.

In the mean time though witter can speed up the process by not neccesarily just winning, but looking good in the process and making those neutral fans watching the fight saturday contemplate "i wonder what witter v hatton would be like"

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If he lets this guy duff him up then the answer is yes.

Hatton already don't fancy the job.

The last thing Witter needs to do is scare him even more ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by p4pking

I haven't seen Bradley fight, but have read he is a very conventional orthodox fighter, not really slick or exceptionally athletic, just a solid come forward type of fighter. It's probably a good style match up for Witter, no other reason to take on an unknown prospect with a flashy record.

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Bradley is pretty good, not slick really like you said but he can be tricky....Enough to cause problems if you are not on top of your P's and Q's so to speak...The kid is not a body ready for slaughter

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fenster

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hattonthehammer

just for the record this article comes from seconds out and i take no credit for writing it.


"It must be said, however, that Bradley can throw the one-two combination well to the body, plus he is a good body puncher in general, if he boxes clever this body attack may allow him to wrong-foot Junior."

So has junior basically picked this guy out due to his similar hatton-esque fighting ability??

Witter has fought almost every single one of his fights on friday night live skysports infront of a handful of fans - this is juniors big chance to impress make no mistake about that.

prime time saturday night viewing on terrestrial TV, If witter is deadly serious about fighting hatton he needs to look as good as he can here and shut those critics up (including myself) who claim he is as dull as dishwater.

America wont take to junior until he has beaten a few more vivian harris and lovemore ndou`s. Eventually though people are gonna have to start taking this guy deadly seriously including team hatton.

In the mean time though witter can speed up the process by not neccesarily just winning, but looking good in the process and making those neutral fans watching the fight saturday contemplate "i wonder what witter v hatton would be like"

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If he lets this guy duff him up then the answer is yes.

Hatton already don't fancy the job.

The last thing Witter needs to do is scare him even more ;)

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Haha beat me to it. The last thing Witter wants to do is fight someone like Hatton and look exceptional. The reason the fight hasn't already came off is hardly because Witter needs to get ready for Hatton's style. It's Ricky that doesn't WANT the fight.

This will be a great boxing match. I think Witter has the edge in power, but I can't speak with certainty about either. I've seen a few Bradley fights, and a few Witter fights. They have pretty similar styles, but Witter switch hits alot. I think Witter's experience against a little better opposition will be the difference, as well as this being Bradley's first fight out of Cali. I'm pulling for Bradley in this one but I think Witter will pull it off. Bradley should have a good showing, he's no slouch.

If Witter brings his "A" game he should be pretty comfortable winning, as it should be easy for him to control the tempo, but if he tries to get too cute or gets in his head too much a Bradley win is not out of reach. Bradley IMO is from the Kessler school, nothing flashy, but a really solid fundamentals boxer.