By Sean McDaniel: Unbeaten welterweight contender Frankie Gavin (13-0, 10 KO’s) can’t wait until he gets a shot against 38-year-old British welterweight Junior Witter (41-5-2, 22 KO’s) after becoming his mandatory challenger.

Gavin told Boxrec.com “I’m technically a better boxer and I punch a lot harder than he thinks I do.”

Let’s hope for Gavin’s sake that he can beat Witter, because if he can’t he needs to seriously consider retirement. Gavin’s career hasn’t panned out like some thought it would be after he turned pro in 2009 after a good amateur career. Gavin, #6 WBO, seems to have a number of flaws in his game that may make it all but impossible for him to rise above the domestic level.

The hand speed isn’t there, the power is average, and the defense is a major liability for him. The problem Gavin has is he gets too much, and because he doesn’t have major power, his fights tend to go deep. This in turn leads to Gavin taking a lot of punishment to beat even lesser opposition. His 12 round split decision win over Curtis Woodhouse in July of last year was highly controversial with many boxing fans thinking Gavin should have lost that one.

If the 26-year-old Gavin can get past Witter, he wants to defend the belt and then eventually go after EBU welterweight champion Leonard Bundu. Following that, Gavin hopes to fight for a world title. I imagine he might get a title shot at some point given his high ranking with the World Boxing Organization, but he’d be in trouble against WBO 147 pound champion Tim Bradley. He’s not good to beat a guy like that.

Witter was thought to be a shot fighter after losing four out of five fights between 2008 and June 2011. However, he’s bounced back winning, winning his last four fights. In his last bout in May, Witter defeated Colin Lynes by a 12 round unanimous decision to capture the British welterweight title.