Witter vs. Harris

By Boxing News - 09/05/2007 - Comments

witter353353.JPGWBC light-welterweight champion Junior Witter (35-1, 20 KOs) defends his title on Saturday, September 7th, against challenger Vivian Harris (28-2-1, 18 KOs) at the Doncaster Dome, in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England. Witter, 33, looks to be in for a real dog fight, considering the mostly soft opposition that he has fought this far in his 10-year career, consisting mostly of European fighters not in the class of Harris, 29. One of the few good opponents that Witter faces in his career, Zab Judah, knocked him out in the 12th round in June 2000, after building a commanding lead up to that point in the fight.

Following that loss, Witter fought exclusively European opponents for the next six years of his career until defeating American DeMarcus Corley last year, in September 2006, by 12-round decision. The win, however, was tarnished somewhat by the fact that Corley had been beaten three out of his last six fights leading up to his fight with Witter, and was thought by many to be over-the-hill. Whatever the case, Witter defeated him to win the vacant WBC light welterweight championship at the age of 32. How, however, Witter finds himself matched against his best opponent since his one-sided beating at the hands of Zab Judah six years ago in having to face the tough Harris.

For his part, Harris fought almost exclusively against top-notch fighters since 2000, and has only been beaten twice, against Ray Oliveira in February 2000 and Carlos Maussa in June 2005. Both losses, however, were upsets and a case where it appeared that Harris had gone into the bouts overlooking the toughness of Oliveira and Maussa. In each case, Harris rebounded with impressive wins over opponents such as Diosbelys Hurtado, Steve Johnston and Oktay Urkal. Most recently, Harris won a 12-round decision over Juan Lazcano in February 2007.

Look for Harris to badly outclass Witter, who will have problems with Harris’ ring skills, power and speed. I see Harris building up a commanding lead going into the late rounds, making Witter take chances as he goes for a knockout. In this case, I see it backfiring on him, leaving him open for a big right hand from Harris, who will knock him out in the 10th round.



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