Junior Witter - a bad advert for boxing by John Hannen May 13th 2008

"I watched the boxing on Saturday and it was bloody rubbish!" How many of us have heard this statement since Junior Witter's dreadful performance in losing his WBC title? God knows we get very little opportunity to see boxing on terrestrial TV these days, so when it happens it's a great opportunity to showcase the sport to a wider public. Who then came up with the idea of giving this golden opportunity to Junior Witter? Just how many people will Witter have 'turned off' with his dismal performance? Witter, being an archetypal boxer from the Brendan Ingle school of boxing was boring, over cautious, and completely focused on the 'not getting hit' part of boxing. For every exciting fighter like Naseem Hamed, Ingle's gym seems to produce far more Johnny Nelsons. Even the ITV commentators were openly describing Witter as a member of the 'who needs him' club because of his awkwardness and reluctance to get into a fight. So, the question needs to be asked, just what research did ITV do when they decided to pay money to broadcast this excuse for a boxing bout? OK, so Witter did KO Vivian Harris in his previous fight but has looked unexciting on far more occasions than he has ever excited. Perhaps the ITV executives that decided to broadcast the Witter fight should have listened to Ricky Hatton who's been quoted as saying that if Witter was fighting in his back garden then he'd close the curtains! A harsh judgment? How many boxing fans could honestly say that they would not have been embarrassed trying to justify to the uninitiated that what Witter delivered was entertaining fare? When you hear the argument that modern boxing is under threat when compared to the likes of the UFC, then sometimes boxing does itself no favours. If it isn't Amir Khan versus his latest 'little threat', 'too small', 'best days behind them' opponent, then we have Calzaghe v Hopkins being replayed on terrestrial TV.....why? It was predicted to be a non-entertaining fight by most pundits and turned out to be just that. Terrestrial TV obviously provides the biggest potential audience and the biggest opportunity for boxing to promote itself as a viable, exciting commodity. If successful, then boxing fans can once again look forward to prime time TV investing in the sport in the way it did in the, just for example, McGuigan and Benn eras. I'm sure Junior Witter is a nice fella, he always looks in great shape, and I hope he got paid well for this title defence. However, surely fights like the one on Saturday night only do a disservice to boxing, and to other boxers hoping to get future TV exposure? (Ed. - So, what do you want ITV to do then, John?  Kick boxing into touch because Witter was poor entertainment?  Do their 'research' better?  If you remember, the whole focus of the ITV bill was originally Carl Froch's WBC eliminator against Denis Inkin.  Witter's fight hadn't even been arranged then.  When it was, it was added to the bill.  ITV were doing boxing fans a service by adding this fight - it's not their fault it was garbage.  John Murray v John Fewkes was also due to be shown, albeit on ITV4, and that fell through too.  What should ITV have done then?  Pull the plug because Witter might - as he did - turn out to be a difficult watch?  With respect, I'm sure ITV weren't happy with Saturday's main event but you seem to be kicking them when they're down.  You ought to be pleased that they are taking an interest at all.)

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everyone has a bad day Jun 13th 2008, 18:54:54 by tbone the last thing we need in this country is for any channel to stop broadcasting our domestic or global boxing - even though british boxing is at a high at the moment it still needs all the help it can get etc. Junior witter, although poor last week, is still one of the highest ranked fighters in his division so doesnt deserve a break? All power to him and i hope he bounces back because british boxing needs him! At a time when US is little bt little losing its global domination we need our fellas up there holding world titles and Witter can do it!   Still a bad advert. May 13th 2008, 06:53:10 by johnny h (continued)..... I hope that the viewers that tuned in on Saturday night give boxing another chance when it is broadcast on ITV again, that they are enthralled by entertaining fights and interesting fighters, that boxing on terrestrial TV gets bigger & bigger viewing figures, and that it becomes a staple piece of future Saturday (or any other night's) night TV. Cheers John ps and good luck to Juinor on finding future opponents to face him, and broadcasters to broadcst him!   Still a bad advert. May 13th 2008, 06:52:53 by johnny h (continued)..... Why not be more inventive and highlight some of the undercard fighters instead (on ITV1 not ITV4), as these were probably far more entertaining and show boxing in a better light and as a better spectacle than the Witter fight? I agree that everyone associated with the ITV broadcast will have been disappointed after Saturday night. Not trying to kick them when they are down and perhaps, on reflection, my article may have been too harsh. Who knows, perhaps Witter could have pulled off another Vivian Harris performance? This is what I was hoping for...but suspected it wasn't going to happen.   Still a bad advert. May 13th 2008, 06:51:25 by johnny h Dear Ed No, of course I don't want ITV to kick boxing into touch, I want the complete opposite. I just know that broadcasting Junior Witter fights is never going to achieve this. Yes, perhaps, after the problems that Froch & Murray had with their opponents it may have been wiser for ITV not to have broadcast this show, or not to have placed much emphasis on Witter's fight.....because, yes, he is a really diffcult watch? I've spoken to casual boxing fans, and boxing fans whose knowledge goes back many years, and all of them were very very disappointed with Witter's 'fight'. As I said, a bad advert for the sport of boxing.