Waiting pays for Witter

Interview: Junior Witter

By Ben Dirs

Witter has lost just one of his 36 professional fights

It is interesting to note that while boxing is synonymous with anger, boxers are the most patient sportsmen around.

Take Junior Witter, who gets his second shot at a world title on Friday, more than six years after his first.

Not for Witter the four stabs at immortality afforded the world's top golfers and tennis players each year.

When the Bradford native was out-pointed by Zab Judah in 2000, he was cast into the wilderness and, like some character from Greek mythology, forced to undertake 18 fights before being offered a second chance.

"I've had the hard route, the long route, but I'm ready for it now," Witter, who fights DeMarcus Corley for the WBC light welterweight title at London's Alexandra Palace, told BBC Sport.

"You see people come and get a world-title shot, lose and two fights later they're up for a world title again. But it's not been like that for me."

The 32-year-old is remarkably mellow considering his tortuous route back to the big time.

Witter had not even challenged for domestic honours when he fought Judah, then considered among the world's best pound-for-pound boxers, for the IBF crown.

I've looked forward to embracing the WBC belt for ever DeMarcus Corley

And although he lasted the distance, he was lambasted by sections of the media for his perceived negativity and frozen out of the world title picture.

"If I could go back in time, I'd still take the fight because I needed it to make me into the fighter I am now," says Witter. "But promotion-wise it crippled me.

"I've been undervalued and I've had my doubts over the last six years about exactly when it was going to happen. But I always thought it was going to happen.

"There are a lot of people out there who said I couldn't become world champion, but I'm going to prove them wrong, parade the streets and let people see what hard work and dedication can achieve."

Witter, a product of Brendan Ingle's Sheffield gym, which also moulded world champions Naseem Hamed and Johnny Nelson, finally got a foothold in the competitive 140lb division with an impressive win over Lovemore N'Dou in Los Angeles last year.

But having been installed as the WBC's number one contender, Witter was forced to mark time with two uninspiring continental defences which further riled his critics.

'Chop Chop' Corley, also 32, is a former WBO world champion and poses a formidable challenge for Witter.

Corley (right) took Zab Judah the distance in 2003

The Washington native has certainly mixed in more exalted company, taking both Judah and Floyd Mayweather the distance and shaking Miguel Cotto to his boots before being stopped last February.

But Corley, like Witter, feels everything in his boxing career has merely been a prelude to a challenge for that green WBC belt, still the most prestigious in boxing.

"This is my breakthrough. I've looked forward to embracing the WBC belt for ever," Corley told BBC Sport.

"It's taken me so long just to get ranked by the WBC. Even when I was world champion, I'd never see my name in their rankings.

"And I'd say, 'I guess I ain't good enough yet. But when I get ranked by the WBC, I'll have made my first step on the road to making a mark in boxing.'"

Both men acknowledge that this fight is likely to be their final shot at a world title. And the suspicion is that they are going in opposite directions, with Witter approaching his peak just as Corley has begun to slide.

"I'm in the best place I can be and I'm fitter than I've ever been," says Witter. "I've got a good team around me who have been preparing me for this fight for the last two months.

"It's going to be an explosive night. He's an aggressive boxer and I fight well against aggressive boxers because I'm an attacking counter-puncher. And it's my destiny to be world champion."

If Witter wins, the WBC belt will open many doors, and his reward could be a clash with Manchester's former 140lb king Ricky Hatton, who will bid to reclaim his IBF crown next January.

And Witter, a triumph for quiet perseverance who has been stalking Hatton for years, will be prepared, we can be sure of that.