By Brent Matteo Alderson
Before you can conquer the world you have to conquer your own region first. It’s just part of the natural progression of things. Oscar De La Hoya conquered Los Angeles by taking out Rafael Ruelas and Genaro Hernandez before he began his assault on Mexico’s best. Before he could become champion, Marvin Hagler had to prove himself in Philly by taking on the likes of Willie the Worm Monroe, Cyclone Art and Baaad Benny Briscoe.
So why does the boxing community give old Rick Hatton a pass when it comes to WBC junior welterweight champion Junior Witter?
I hate to knock Hatton; he’s a hell of a fighter and has an indomitable will and a huge heart. Truth be told the Mayweather fight probably wouldn’t have been as exciting as it was if it hadn’t been for Hatton’s aggression. Still I think it’s obvious that Hatton is side-stepping Junior Witter because Witter has not only validated himself as a legitimate contender, but as Ricky’s primary rival.
Out of 974 junior-welterweights ranked on Boxrec, Witter is ranked second only behind Hatton. And Ring Magazine has Witter positioned as the number one contender to fight Hatton for the linear junior-welterweight world championship.
When was the last time that two British fighters were almost universally recognized as the first and second best fighters in their respective weight class? (I can’t think of one.)
In their 1993 unification bout, Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank were close to being the best fighters in their weight class and would have been if James Toney hadn’t moved up to the division earlier in the year.
So why doesn’t the fight happen? The answer is simple: Because Hatton doesn’t want the fight. Witter has been calling out Ricky for years and after his 2000 loss to an undefeated Zab Judah, Witter probably didn’t deserve the fight. Since then he has reeled off 21 consecutive victories with wins over a number of respected pugilists such as Vivian Harris, Demarcus Corley, and Lovemore N’Dou. He even garnered the vacant WBC 140-pound title belt and is tentatively scheduled to face Demetrious Hopkins in March in the United States while Hatton is looking for a comeback opponent in May.
And Witter’s name was never in the mix for that May date. He knows it and that’s why he took the Hopkins fight. You think Witter wants to fight the nephew of Bernard Hopkins on a Golden Boy Promotions card in the United States? Maybe Witter should have spoken to Steve Forbes. The point I’m trying to make is that Witter has been forced into a position to take fights that he may not otherwise have taken because he’s conscious of the fact that Ricky is going to do everything possible not to fight him.
Ricky has openly expressed his disdain for Witter and recently stated, “Witter has made a career for himself on slagging me off and when someone slags you off, you don’t repay them by giving them their best payday. But you can never say never.” And even if he did say never I wouldn’t believe it because I remember when Oscar De La Hoya used to say that he would never fight Fernando Vargas and that fight eventually happened when it made sense to both of their careers.
That’s why they call it prize fighting, it’s all about the money and even though Junior Witter is at worst the second best junior-welterweight in the world, he doesn’t command the type of economic clout that a Mayweather or a De La Hoya have to make the reward worth the risk.
Stylistically, Witter is a nightmare for Hatton. He’s fast, he’s mobile, he has good movement, a good defense, and is a sharp crisp puncher. In a way he’s the anti-thesis of Ricky Hatton and practically the improved version of Luis Collazo, the New York-based welterweight contender who gave Ricky hell.
Ricky made his bundle against Mayweather and fought in one of this generation’ super fights so now it’s time to go back to junior welterweight and defend his linear title against his fellow countryman and the world’s number one contender unless he wants the fans that commend him for his bravery and fighting heart to start condemning him for his lion’s heart.
Brent Matteo Alderson, a graduate of UCLA, has been part of the staff at BoxingScene.com since 2004 and teaches Spanish at the High School level in Southern California. He has published articles in Ring Magazine, KO, World Boxing, Boxing 2006, and Latin Boxing Magazine. He has also been featured on the ESPN Classic television program “Who’s Number One?” Please e-mail any comments to BoxingAficionado@aol.com
