Junior Witter was convinced Floyd Mayweather purposely went up a division rather than face him in a WBC-mandated fight.
Witter, who called Ricky Hatton out unsuccessfully for over a decade, was scheduled to face Mayweather as the number one welterweight contender.
The Yorkshire man is sure Mayweather didn’t fancy the job and decided to vacate the title instead.
That left Witter in pole position to face an old Mayweather opponent. ‘The Hitter’ would then battle DeMarcus Corley instead.
Junior Witter vs Floyd Mayweather
Airing his views on the matter, Witter recalled to the Wakefield Express: “The WBC title was a different level of achievement. That is the one people remember me for.
“It took so long to get there. I was the mandatory (challenger) for a year.
“I should have boxed Mayweather. That was the fight I wanted. He moved up in weight. Then he didn’t have to fight me.
“He wasn’t the fighter he has been in the last five years. But he was still one of the biggest names in boxing.
“It was a fight I looked at and thought I had a good chance of winning. Styles make fights, and knowing how I boxed and how he boxes, it suited me brilliantly, and I think that is why the fight didn’t happen.
“They probably looked at it and thought it was too much of a risk for too little gain, so he moved up.”
Corley
On his defining night against Corley in the UK, Witter added: “I won the WBC title against DeMarcus Corley. It was surreal.
“He was a former world champion himself and was fighting as the favorite. That night I just performed again.
“It wasn’t the most entertaining fight. It was more of a technical battle.
“That feeling was second to none because that was a true achievement. That was the night it all came together.”
Witter retired in 2015 and has since taken to training kids and fighters. But the Mayweather bout wasn’t the only one to get away from him.
The Hatton affair rumbled on for years in the public domain. Getting ugly at times, Hatton later admitted he wanted the fight, but the risk also outweighed the reward.
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