Witter: I'll be waiting if Hatton loses

Junior Witter has delivered a fresh message of intent to bitter rival Ricky Hatton as he goes into war against Floyd Mayweather tomorrow night: Lose this one and you've GOT to face me. Witter hopes Hatton can put the seal on a purple patch for British boxing by shocking Mayweather in Las Vegas in the most eagerly-awaited fight in years. But he predicts the Hitman will be taught a lesson at the lightning hands of the brash but highly-gifted American, regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet. Should that happen, Witter will offer Hatton the chance to rebuild his reputation by facing Bradford's WBC light-welterweight king in the domestic dust-up he has always demanded. Witter said: "If Hatton wins, it would be brilliant and I'm happy for him. But for me, I can only see a one-sided victory for Mayweather. "If Hatton wins, the chances of ever fighting me are less likely than before. But I can't imagine Hatton wanting to go out of the game on a loss - every fighter who has done that then lives to regret it. "People only remember Naz (Naseem Hamed) for getting hammered by Barrera and not for all the opponents he beat before. You forget all the good things and just remember the one he lost. "The same will happen with Hatton if he didn't come back and beat someone credible. He will go down as being a very good British fighter who beat a lot of good people on the slide, then boxed somebody right up there and got battered. "Hatton deserves much better than that. But the way to beat that is to respond and box someone credible - and there's nobody more credible out there than me." Hatton believes he got under Mayweather's skin during the build-up to the fight for the WBC welterweight belt. And he will step into the ring in the best physical condition of his career after nearly four months of preparation. But even with his mighty fists, Witter cannot see a ***** in the Mayweather armour that Hatton can exploit. "I'm not confident for him. He might get two rounds. "Look at Floyd's last fight, every time he goes to work he dominates the round. "It might take a round or two for him to get used to Hatton's style but I can see him winning by a large margin - or with a late stoppage on cuts. "Mayweather is technically superior to Hatton in every category - he has speed, power, timing and accuracy and is such an intelligent boxer. And he's so dedicated that he virtually lives in the gym. "Hatton may think he can get to him but Mayweather has beaten absolutely everybody; tall guys, small guys, big punchers - he's done it all. "He has had constant pressure throughout his career so you don't see him taking his eye off the ball. And he won't do that tomorrow." Bradford promoter Steve Garber will be among the 18,000 sell-out crowd at the MGM Arena. Witter will be in the audience at Sunday night's BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in London.