Junior Witter


Junior Witter is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2015. He held the WBC light welterweight title from 2006 to 2008 and challenged once for the IBF light welterweight title in 2000. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth light welterweight title from 2002 to 2005; the EBU European Union light welterweight title in 2003; and the EBU European light welterweight title from 2004 to 2005; and the British welterweight title in 2012.

Professional career

Early professional years

Witter's first fight as a professional took place in January 1997 and scored a draw over Cameron Raeside at the Green Bank Leisure Centre in Derbyshire. He scored his first win as a professional in his next fight, travelling to Yarm to beat John Green over six rounds. Five more fights happened in 1997 for Witter to end the year with a record of 6-0-1. Witter's next year as a professional started in the same way as his first; a draw over Mark Grundy! Despite this he fought four more times during the year meaning that at the end of only his second year as a pro he had compiled of record of 12-0-2 scoring decent wins along the way over the likes of Jan Piet Bergman and Mark Winters. The beginning of 1999 begun with a two-round win over Malcolm Melvin.

IBF light-welterweight title challenge

Witter gained four more victories, then in June 2000, with a record of 15-0-2, he was given a late-notice shot at a world title against American Zab Judah. The fight, which took place in Glasgow in Scotland on the undercard of Mike Tyson's fight with Lou Savarese, ended with first career defeat for the Englishman. Witter lasted the distance but lost on points to the champion. Speaking of the fight later on in his career and when he himself had finally won a World title, Witter said "It was a shot in the dark. During my first few years as a pro, I was struggling like mad financially, so when the shot came about it meant a really big payday. I thought: if I don't take it, I've got nothing - all my savings were gone and all my loans were on top of me. As far as the fight went, I didn't have enough experience. I wasn't even British champion and I had nine days to prepare for a shot at Judah, one of the best fighters in the world. I lost on points, but I learned so much. It taught me that I deserved to be at that level."

British, Commonwealth and European champion

Witter's response to his first defeat was to go the traditional route towards another crack at a World belt. Witter fought six more times since the Judah defeat beating the likes of Steve Conway and Colin Mayisela before, in March 2002, meeting Alan Bosworth for the vacant British light welterweight title claiming the belt with a stoppage in the third round. Witter's next fight saw him pick up the vacant Commonwealth title with a win over Ghanain Laatekwei Hammond. Two more fights in 2002 saw him beat Lucky Sambo in a non-title fight and Italian Giuseppe Lauri in an eliminator for the WBO light welterweight title.
Only two fights in 2003 saw the double champion add to his collection when in April 2003 he beat Belgian Jurgen Haeck for the European Union title. A first defence of his Commonwealth title took place in September at the MEN Arena in Manchester with a win in the 2nd round giving victory over Kenyan Fred Kinuthia. Witter finally challenged for the full European title in June 2004 beating Italian Salvatore Battaglia at the Ice Arena in Nottingham. The year ended for Witter with a first defence of his European crown at the Conference Center in Wembley beating Polish fighter Krzyztof Bienias.

Route to a second world title challenge

In February 2005, Witter travelled to Los Angeles for a WBC Light Welterweight eliminator against Australian-based Lovemore N'dou. The fight which also doubled as a further defence of his Commonwealth title ended with a 12-round points decision win for the man from Bradford. In July of the same year Witter returned to the Ice Arena in Nottingham to score a win over Ukrainian Andriy Kotelnik in a close fought fight which was also a defence of his European title. Witter finished the year with a win over fellow Brit Colin Lynes in a fight which saw his British, Commonwealth and European titles all on the line at the same time. The fight, this time at the York Hall in London, ended with another points victory over 12 rounds for Witter.

WBC light-welterweight champion

September 2006 finally saw Witter win a world title when he challenged American Demarcus Corley for the vacant WBC light welterweight belt at the Alexandra Palace in Wood Green. Eighteen fights and eighteen wins since losing to Zab Judah in 2000 Witter had finally achieved the pinnacle of his career so far. Two defences of the title followed in 2007 with wins over Mexican Arturo Morua and Guyanese Vivian Harris before on 10 May 2008, losing the belt to mandatory challenger Timothy Bradley via split decision. Following his loss to Bradley, Witter declared he would continue fighting at a professional level and vowed to return to the ring to reclaim his WBC crown. Bradley commented that he would be happy to offer Witter a rematch if the money was right.

Comeback

Following the Bradley defeat Witter returned to the ring on 8 November 2008 and scored a third-round knockout of Argentinian Victor Hugo Castro. He knocked his opponent down in the second but was unable to finish it due to the bell instead finishing the fight early in the following round. Witter was then given the chance to fight for his old WBC title when in May 2009, Timothy Bradley was stripped of the belt for choosing not to fight his mandatory challenger Devon Alexander. This handed Witter an opportunity to fight Alexander for the now vacant belt. The contest took place in California on 1 August 2009 with Alexander proving too strong for the former champion with Witter, claiming an elbow injury in round four, having to retire at the end of round eight. The injury meant that Witter did not fight again til 19 February 2011, a year and a half since the loss to Alexander. The fight, this time in Ontario, Canada, resulted in another loss for Witter as he was beaten over 10 rounds by Romanian boxer Victor Puiu for the WBC International silver welterweight title. On 7 June 2011 Witter entered the welterweight version of the Prizefighter tournament at the York Hall in London and defeated Nathan Graham and Kevin McIntyre on the way to the final. In the final, Witter lost a majority points decision to Moroccan born fighter Yassine El maachi, who claimed the tournaments top prize award of £32,000.
On 16 November 2013 Witter faced an Albanian upcoming boxer Timo Schwarzkopf. He lost by majority decision

Personal life

Witter trained at the Bradford Police Boys amateur boxing club, as an amateur boxer he represented England and captained a England school's team.

Early life

Witter studied at Carlton Bolling College, a high school located in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Witter is Bradford's first World Boxing Champion.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
53Loss43–8–2 Ahmed El MousaouiSD1217 Apr 2015 La Palestre, Le Cannet, FranceFor European Union welterweight title
52Win43–7–2 Arvydas TriznoTKO4, 0:4117 May 2014 Town Hall, Leeds, England
51Win42–7–2 Max MaxwellPTS622 Mar 2014 Ponds Forge, Sheffield, England
50Loss41–7–2 Festim KryeziuMD1016 Nov 2013 MHPArena, Ludwigsburg, Germany
49Loss41–6–2 Frankie GavinUD1212 Nov 2012 York Hall, London, EnglandLost British welterweight title
48Win41–5–2 Colin LynesUD1212 May 2012 Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, YorkshireWon British welterweight title
47Win40–5–2 Arvydas TriznoPTS67 Sep 2011 King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
46Loss39–5–2 Yassine El maachi37 Jun 2011 York Hall, London, England
45Win39–4–2 Kevin McIntyreUD37 Jun 2011 York Hall, London, England
44Win38–4–2 Nathan GrahamUD37 Jun 2011 York Hall, London, England
43Loss37–4–2 Victor Lupo PuiuUD1019 Feb 2011 Hershey Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, CanadaFor vacant WBC Silver International welterweight title
42Loss37–3–2 Devon AlexanderRTD8, 3:001 Aug 2009 Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, Rancho Mirage, California, USFor vacant WBC light-welterweight title
41Win37–2–2 Victor Hugo CastroKO3, 1:108 Nov 2008 York Hall, London, England
40Loss36–2–2 Timothy Bradley1210 May 2008 Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, EnglandLost WBC light-welterweight title
39Win36–1–2 Vivian HarrisKO7, 1:007 Sep 2007 The Dome Leisure Centre, Doncaster, EnglandRetained WBC light-welterweight title
38Win35–1–2 Arturo MoruaTKO9, 2:1220 Jan 2007 Alexandra Palace, London, EnglandRetained WBC light-welterweight title
37Win34–1–2 DeMarcus CorleyUD1215 Sep 2006 Alexandra Palace, London, EnglandWon vacant WBC light-welterweight title
36Win33–1–2 Colin LynesUD1221 Oct 2005 York Hall, London, EnglandRetained European, British, and Commonwealth light-welterweight titles
35Win32–1–2 Andreas KotelnikUD129 Jul 2005 Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, EnglandRetained European light-welterweight title
34Win31–1–2 Lovemore N'douUD1219 Feb 2005 Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, US
33Win30–1–2 Krzysztof BieniasTKO2, 2:0412 Nov 2004 Wembley Conference Centre, London, EnglandRetained European light-welterweight title
32Win29–1–2 Salvatore BattagliaTKO2, 1:182 Jun 2004 Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, EnglandWon vacant European light-welterweight title
31Win28–1–2 Oscar HallTKO3, 2:4116 Apr 2004 Pennington's, Bradford, England
30Win27–1–2 Fred KinuthiaKO2, 2:5127 Sep 2003 MEN Arena, Manchester, EnglandRetained Commonwealth light-welterweight title
29Win26–1–2 Jurgen Haeck4, 3:005 Apr 2003 MEN Arena, Manchester, EnglandWon European Union light-welterweight title
28Win25–1–2 Giuseppe LauriTKO2, 1:2123 Nov 2002 Storm Arena, Derby, England
27Win24–1–2 Lucky SamboTKO2, 2:5219 Oct 2002 Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland
26Win23–1–2 Laatekwei HammondTKO2, 1:568 Jul 2002 Grosvenor House, London, EnglandWon vacant Commonwealth light-welterweight title
25Win22–1–2 Alan BosworthTKO3 16 Mar 2002 Royal & Derngate, Northampton, EnglandWon vacant British light-welterweight title
24Win21–1–2 Colin MayiselaTKO2, 0:4527 Oct 2001 MEN Arena, Manchester, EnglandWBU International light-middleweight title
23Win20–1–2 Alan Temple5, 2:2527 Oct 2001 Ponds Forge, Sheffield, England
22Win19–1–2 Brice FaradjiTKO1 22 May 2001 Telde, Spain
21Win18–1–2 David KirkTKO2, 1:1010 Mar 2001 York Hall, London, England
20Win17–1–2 Christopher HenryTKO3 25 Nov 2000 Wythenshawe Forum, Manchester, England
19Win16–1–2 Steve ConwayTKO4 20 Oct 2000 Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
18Loss15–1–2 Zab Judah1224 Jun 2000 Hampden Park, Glasgow, ScotlandFor IBF light-welterweight title
17Win15–0–2 Arv MittooPTS48 Apr 2000 York Hall, London, England
16Win14–0–2 Mihai IorguTKO1 21 Mar 2000 Telde, Spain
15Win13–0–2 Harry ButlerPTS66 Nov 1999 Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, England
14Win12–0–2 Isaac CruzPTS817 Jul 1999 The Dome Leisure Centre, Doncaster, England
13Win11–0–2 Malcolm MelvinTKO2, 1:3313 Feb 1999 Telewest Arena, Newcastle, EnglandWon vacant WBF light-welterweight title
12Win10–0–2 Karl TaylorPTS428 Nov 1998 Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England
11Win9–0–2 Mark WintersPTS85 Sep 1998 Ice Rink, Telford, England
10Win8–0–2 Jan Piet BergmanPTS618 Apr 1998 NYNEX Arena, Manchester, England
9Win7–0–2 Brian ColemanPTS65 Mar 1998 Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, England
8Draw6–0–2 Mark RamseyPTS67 Feb 1998 Grundy Park Leisure Centre, Cheshunt, England
7Win6–0–1 Michael AlexanderPTS44 Oct 1997 Stadionsporthalle, Hanover, Germany
6Win5–0–1 Brian ColemanPTS42 Aug 1997 Metrodome, Barnsley, England
5Win4–0–1 Andreas PanayiTKO5 15 May 1997 Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, England
4Win3–0–1 Trevor MeiklePTS625 Apr 1997 Golf and Country Club, Mere, England
3Win2–0–1 Lee Molyneux6, 1:4320 Mar 1997 The Willows, Salford, England
2Win1–0–1 John Green64 Mar 1997 Tall Trees Hotel, Yarm, England
1Draw0–0–1 Cam Raeside618 Jan 1997 Green Bank Leisure Centre, Swadlincote, England