Witter Lays Down the Gauntlet for Hatton

Junior Witter will be aiming to recapture the form that saw him knock out former world champion Vivian Harris in his last fight in September when he defends his WBC world light-welterweight title for the third time against undefeated American Timothy Bradley at the Nottingham Arena tonight.

The 34-year-old Yorkshireman still believes he will be able to press for the domestic showdown against Ricky Hatton, for which he has been campaigning for years, provided he can post an impressive performance in front of what is likely to be the biggest television audience of his career and a live crowd of around 6,000.

"Hatton is fighting Juan Lazcano later this month, and good luck to him. But the fight that the British public want to see above all others is him versus me," said Witter. "It would be bigger than Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank. If they announced a fight between me and Hatton, it could be at Wembley Stadium and they would sell it out in an hour.

"He talks about fighting (Floyd) Mayweather again, but the British audience would rather see him fight me. They know that Mayweather has beaten him and would beat him again, but a fight against me would be the unknown. But that's for the future. First it is Bradley, and I am excited by that fight. I am at my best when I face the best, and he will bring that out of me."

Witter has only lost one fight out of 37 as a pro, eight years ago against Zab Judah on points on the undercard of Mike Tyson's Glasgow appearance when he stopped Lou Savarese. Since then he has visibily matured as a fighter, punching with greater authority and developing self belief as the years have passed.

Now 34, he is still in his prime and has never been badly hurt in a fight. The fleet footwork that is the hallmark of the Brendan Ingle gym in Sheffield where he has trained throughout his career has served him well, and he remains one of the most ellusive switch-hitters in world boxing.

Bradley, 24, is the shorter man - 5ft 6ins to Witter's 5ft 8ins - and also has good footwork as well as a sharp punch in his right hand, which he believes will reap dividends against the champion.

"He is open to that right hand, man, and I have studied Witter for years. I know everything that he does, and I am ready for him," he said. "This fight means everything to me, fighting for a world title is all that I have dreamed of since I was a little boy, and I think that this is going to be my time."

Fighting Witter will be a huge step forward in class for Bradley, who lives in Palm Beach, California, and is undefeated in 21 contests, but his camp are confident that the odds of 10/1 on that are being quoted for Witter, with Bradley available at 5/1, are ludicrously biased in favour of the Yorkshireman and they were seen heading for Nottingham bookmakers this week to invest in support of their man.

But Witter has worked hard to reach a point where he can make an argument for being the best in the division, and it seems unlikely that he will slip up against his ambitious challenger. He has bamboozled better men in the past, and the likelihood is that Witter will win by late stoppage or points and once more increase the pressure on Hatton to face him in the ring.