JUNIOR WITTER moved seamlessly on to the world stage with a unanimous points victory over Lovemore N’Dou and was then told to prepare for superstar status by the sport’s No 1 attraction, Oscar De La Hoya.
Mick Hennessy, Witter’s promoter, has agreed a three-bout deal in the United States with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Having been avoided for years, Witter has been given a warm welcome to the big time. “Now I can see why nobody wants to fight Junior,” De La Hoya said. “He reminded me of Naseem Hamed and he was a superstar here. Junior can be the same. He’s now mandatory for the (Arturo) Gatti belt and that’s going to be the next move for him.”
After Witter had floored N’Dou in the third and fourth rounds, the Bradford switch-hitter was in control and seemed a clearer winner than he was on the judges’ scorecards. Two judges gave Witter victory by 114-112 and one by 115-111. However, immediate plans will be put on hold because a hospital examination later revealed a chipped bone in his left hand.
The first knockdown came from a crushing right uppercut that sent N’Dou under the bottom rope and, when a left hook put N’Dou down again in the fourth, an extension to Witter’s run of 15 stoppage wins seemed likely.
Witter said that he thought he injured the hand after the second knockdown and it restricted his power thereafter. He may also have been surprised by N’Dou’s comeback in the second half of the bout, which put the crowd firmly on the side of the game Sydney-based South African. The bout was for Witter’s Commonwealth light-welterweight title and also an eliminator for Gatti’s WBC title. The exciting Canadian is scheduled to defend against Floyd Mayweather Jr, but that may fall through because of legal problems. Witter could fill the gap.