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JUNIOR Witter hid a secret family torment as he went into the ring to unsuccessfully defend his world title, The Star can reveal today.
The Sheffield/Doncaster-based boxer's father, Walter, has been suffering a serious illness and Witter has been concerned about his welfare.
Witter comes across as a private, sometimes shy, person. He is not the type to tell the media details about his family life - or make excuses following his defeat to American Timothy Bradley last week.
Similarly, trainer Brendan Ingle - normally one of the most talkative people in sport - would speak only briefly about the preoccupation that clouded Witter's mind in the run-up to his unsuccessful WBC light-welterweight defence at Nottingham last weekend.
"Junior had been training and then running to and from Bradford because of his dad's illness" he said.
"That sort of thing going on in Junior's life is bound to have an effect on anybody. We're all human beings.
"We had tried to make his mind blank before the fight and to just get on with the job.
"But it's all right us saying it; it is another thing doing it. We don't know what is going through his head."
Witter's Jamaican-born dad, a former club owner, remains poorly, added Ingle.
The Wincobank boxing guru said last Saturday's fight generally represented a "bad day at the office" and Witter was now focused on a re-match.
"There is no doubt the other fella (Bradley) was an outstanding contender, but Junior was not the boxer I have known all these years; he didn't seem to have his mind on the job," Ingle added.
Ingle revealed Witter had been treated by a physio for an ankle injury too.
He said Witter's famed "speed and power" was still there and would be unleashed on the opponents match-makers come up with next.
The Sheffield/Doncaster-based boxer's father, Walter, has been suffering a serious illness and Witter has been concerned about his welfare.
Witter comes across as a private, sometimes shy, person. He is not the type to tell the media details about his family life - or make excuses following his defeat to American Timothy Bradley last week.
Similarly, trainer Brendan Ingle - normally one of the most talkative people in sport - would speak only briefly about the preoccupation that clouded Witter's mind in the run-up to his unsuccessful WBC light-welterweight defence at Nottingham last weekend.
"Junior had been training and then running to and from Bradford because of his dad's illness" he said.
"That sort of thing going on in Junior's life is bound to have an effect on anybody. We're all human beings.
"We had tried to make his mind blank before the fight and to just get on with the job.
"But it's all right us saying it; it is another thing doing it. We don't know what is going through his head."
Witter's Jamaican-born dad, a former club owner, remains poorly, added Ingle.
The Wincobank boxing guru said last Saturday's fight generally represented a "bad day at the office" and Witter was now focused on a re-match.
"There is no doubt the other fella (Bradley) was an outstanding contender, but Junior was not the boxer I have known all these years; he didn't seem to have his mind on the job," Ingle added.
Ingle revealed Witter had been treated by a physio for an ankle injury too.
He said Witter's famed "speed and power" was still there and would be unleashed on the opponents match-makers come up with next.