Witter loses title on points

Bradley dethrones Bradford fighter

Last updated: 11th May 2008

Junior Witter May 08

Witter: second defeat of career

Junior Witter will be back.

Junior Witter
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Junior Witter lost his WBC light-welterweight title on a split decision to Timothy Bradley at the Nottingham Arena on Saturday evening.

Witter was down in the sixth and struggled to impose himself on the more aggressive Bradley, for whom victory extended his unbeaten record to 22 contests.

The eventual outcome had looked unlikely when Witter started strongly, landing with a sweetly timed right hand while dominating the opening round.

But Bradley's tactic of following in behind his powerful right hand began to pay off as the fight entered its middle rounds.

Knockdown

The 24-year-old Californian, who was fighting outside his home state for the first time, got his reward in the sixth with an overhand right that looped over Witter's guard and landed cleanly to send him to the canvas.

Witter comfortably beat the count but spent the remainder of the round backpedalling before the bell came to his rescue.

Despite heavy swelling and a steady trickle of blood emerging from under his right eye, the Bradford fighter regrouped during the seventh and came back impressively to edge the eighth, during which Bradley was warned for illegal use of the head.

The fight remained even heading into the final stages with both men looking to sway the judges with a strong finish.

Neither managed it as the closing rounds were also close affairs, Bradley impressing in the 11th before Witter found new life in the last.

The judges were left to determine the winner and gave it to Bradley on a split decision by margins of 115-113 and 114-113, while the other scorecard had Witter by 115-112.

The defeat is Witter's first for almost eight years and - at the age of 34 - leaves him to contemplate if he has a future in the ring, especially as hopes of a lucrative domestic super fight with Ricky Hatton now appear as distant as ever.

Sloppy

"I'm gutted, I can't believe it," Witter told ITV 1 afterwards.

"I thought I'd done enough to win. I know I had the knockdown but I thought I worked hard enough in the rest of the fight to win comfortably.

"I don't think you saw the best of me tonight. Timothy Bradley came out and fought and took some good shots. He caught me with a hell of a shot.

"But I was just a bit sloppy. It was a perfect shot. He'd been trying it all night, I knew he was going for it. But I won rounds before it. I won rounds after that.

"I'm still going to carry on, no way am I retiring after that. There's a lot more in the tank. There are better nights for me to come and Junior Witter will be back. As a world champion."