Witter: “Hatton Has Avoided Fighting Me For Years And He’s Still Avoiding Me”

In the latest boxing news, World Boxing Council junior welterweight champion Junior Witter (36-1-2, 21 KOs) came out with another bomb shell interview, this time to The Sunday Times, in which Witter accused former junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton of avoiding him for years, and is still avoiding him. “Hatton hates me and he can’t stand the fact that I’ll beat him, if we ever get it on in the ring. That’s why he and his handlers have never allowed the fight to take place, said Witter.”

Though Hatton uses the excuse that he has never fought Witter because of his often caustic comments made about him, it almost seems as if What Witter says has a grain of truth, as Hatton has somehow avoided fighting him all these years, despite the fact that Witter has been close to brilliant as a fighter all this time, almost impossible to ignore unless Hatton perhaps was afraid of him as Witter says.

It’s not like Hatton has fought exclusively top notch opponents during this time, as he’s fought a lot of over-the-hill junior welterweights, like Kotya Tszyu, Vince Phillips, and Jose Luis Castillo. All were good fighters at one time, way before Hatton had fought them, but by the time that they met up with Ricky, they were far past their prime.

“Do I think I could beat Ricky Hatton? Of course I do. I have no doubt at all and he knows it, too.” Again, Witter gets straight to the heart Hatton’s possible reasons for avoiding him, thinking that he may end up losing to him. If Hatton believed in his own abilities against Witter, it would seem obvious that he would have selected him as an opponent rather than fighters like Michael Steward, Ray Olivera, Carlos Maussa and Carlos Wilfredo Vilches.

It seems that Hatton would like nothing better than for Witter to keep his mouth shut, suggesting that was the real reason that he’s not fought him all these years, but it seems more logical that Hatton doesn’t like Witter talking because it exposes Hatton as being afraid, since why else would he avoid him all these years unless he was afraid. It’s one thing not choosing to fight a mediocre fighter, but when you have a fighter of Witter’s caliber, sharing a small country the size of England, it’s almost impossible to avoid him without being exposed as afraid.