Hatton lawyer dismisses Witter claims. Is Hatton ducking Junior Witter?

Question

By Mark Staniforth Special to PA SportsTicker

MANCHESTER, England (Ticker)—Ricky Hatton’s lawyer has hit back at Junior Witter’s latest attempts to secure a domestic light-welterweight fight by dismissing the potential showdown as “a waste of time.”

Gareth Williams insists the WBC champion Witter has no business sharing the same ring as Hatton, who is scheduled to stage a grand homecoming at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 24.

Williams also disputed claims the date could be in jeopardy because of the lack of live television coverage from the United States, saying he expects a live gate of over 50,000 to ensure another lucrative night for his man.

“Suggestions that the fight may be in jeopardy due to the lack of American TV are an absolute nonsense,” Williams said. “This is going to be another huge occasion and will underline the fact that Ricky Hatton is simply in a different league.”

Williams added that Hatton has numerous other options to pursue instead of Witter.

“He is being courted by every big promoter in the U.S. and we have options like Manny Pacquaio, Juan Diaz or a rematch against Floyd Mayweather,” he said. “Why is he going to fight Junior Witter when he can fight any of those guys?

“In our opinion Junior brings nothing to the table. Unless things change dramatically there is no way he is going to fight Ricky Hatton.”

Witter’s promoter Mick Hennessy sought to move the fight a bit closer this week by announcing he would accept a reversal of the usual purse bid format and accept a 30 percent share for Witter.

“As long as there is no greed in the equation, I remain convinced that this is the fight which can easily be made, and which the public want to see,” Hennessy said.

“It’s a nonsense,” Williams responded. “A 70-30 split would still represent Witter’s biggest payday by about 30 times. He can’t sell out the Doncaster Dome. What makes him think he is worth that?”

The Hatton camp are putting the finishing touches to the big homecoming bill.

“If we only get 20,000 fans through the gate we’ll admit we were wrong,” Williams said. “But Ricky transcends boxing, so that isn’t going to happen.”

Juan Lazcano remains the favored opponent for the assignment but hard-hitting World Boxing Organization champion Ricardo Torres is also on the list. Williams claimed HBO’s reticence to broadcast the fight live was not an issue.

“I had a meeting with HBO in New York in early January when they offered a three-fight deal to Ricky,” Williams said. “We made it perfectly clear his next fight would be in Britain at a time convenient to the English fans.

“(While) the U.S. people weren’t happy with that, they appreciated that that is what we wanted to do. We could have fought in the U.S. or on a different date, but Ricky feels he owes this to his British fans.”

Answer 1

Witter would win easy.