# Junior Witter

Junior Witter (born 10 March 1974) is a British former world champion professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2015. He held the WBC light welterweight world 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. Witter is Bradford's first World Boxing Champion.

## 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 (all wins) 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 (35-1) and Mark Winters (13-1). 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 (TKO 4) and Colin Mayisela (TKO 2) 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 (TKO 9) and Guyanese Vivian Harris (KO 7) 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.
On 16 November 2013, Witter faced Albanian upcoming boxer Timo Schwarzkopf. He lost by majority decision.

## Personal life

Witter studied at Carlton Bolling College, a high school located in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

## Early life

Witter trained at the Bradford Police Boys amateur boxing club in Girlington, Bradford, under Mr Allan (Pop Allan).

## Professional boxing record

| 53 fights | 43 wins | 8 losses |
| By knockout | 23 | 1 |
| By decision | 20 | 7 |
| Draws | 2 | 2 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 53 | Loss | 43–8–2 | Ahmed El Mousaoui | SD | 12 | 17 Apr 2015 | La Palestre, Le Cannet, France | For European Union welterweight title |
| 52 | Win | 43–7–2 | Arvydas Trizno | TKO | 4 (6), 0:41 | 17 May 2014 | Town Hall, Leeds, England | |
| 51 | Win | 42–7–2 | Max Maxwell | PTS | 6 | 22 Mar 2014 | Ponds Forge, Sheffield, England | |
| 50 | Loss | 41–7–2 | Festim Kryeziu | MD | 10 | 16 Nov 2013 | MHPArena, Ludwigsburg, Germany | |
| 49 | Loss | 41–6–2 | Frankie Gavin | UD | 12 | 12 Nov 2012 | York Hall, London, England | Lost British welterweight title |
| 48 | Win | 41–5–2 | Colin Lynes | UD | 12 | 12 May 2012 | Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, Yorkshire | Won British welterweight title |
| 47 | Win | 40–5–2 | Arvydas Trizno | PTS | 6 | 7 Sep 2011 | King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland | |
| 46 | Loss | 39–5–2 | Yassine El maachi | MD | 3 | 7 Jun 2011 | York Hall, London, England | Prizefighter 19: welterweight final |
| 45 | Win | 39–4–2 | Kevin McIntyre | UD | 3 | 7 Jun 2011 | York Hall, London, England | Prizefighter 19: welterweight semi-final |
| 44 | Win | 38–4–2 | Nathan Graham | UD | 3 | 7 Jun 2011 | York Hall, London, England | Prizefighter 19: welterweight quarter-final |
| 43 | Loss | 37–4–2 | Victor Lupo Puiu | UD | 10 | 19 Feb 2011 | Hershey Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | For vacant WBC Silver International welterweight title |
| 42 | Loss | 37–3–2 | Devon Alexander | RTD | 8 (12), 3:00 | 1 Aug 2009 | Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, Rancho Mirage, California, US | For vacant WBC light-welterweight title |
| 41 | Win | 37–2–2 | Victor Hugo Castro | KO | 3 (10), 1:10 | 8 Nov 2008 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 40 | Loss | 36–2–2 | Timothy Bradley | SD | 12 | 10 May 2008 | Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England | Lost WBC light-welterweight title |
| 39 | Win | 36–1–2 | Vivian Harris | KO | 7 (12), 1:00 | 7 Sep 2007 | The Dome Leisure Centre, Doncaster, England | Retained WBC light-welterweight title |
| 38 | Win | 35–1–2 | Arturo Morua | TKO | 9 (12), 2:12 | 20 Jan 2007 | Alexandra Palace, London, England | Retained WBC light-welterweight title |
| 37 | Win | 34–1–2 | DeMarcus Corley | UD | 12 | 15 Sep 2006 | Alexandra Palace, London, England | Won vacant WBC light-welterweight title |
| 36 | Win | 33–1–2 | Colin Lynes | UD | 12 | 21 Oct 2005 | York Hall, London, England | Retained European, British, and Commonwealth light-welterweight titles |
| 35 | Win | 32–1–2 | Andreas Kotelnik | UD | 12 | 9 Jul 2005 | Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England | Retained European light-welterweight title |
| 34 | Win | 31–1–2 | Lovemore N'dou | UD | 12 | 19 Feb 2005 | Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, US | |
| 33 | Win | 30–1–2 | Krzysztof Bienias | TKO | 2 (12), 2:04 | 12 Nov 2004 | Wembley Conference Centre, London, England | Retained European light-welterweight title |
| 32 | Win | 29–1–2 | Salvatore Battaglia | TKO | 2 (12), 1:18 | 2 Jun 2004 | Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England | Won vacant European light-welterweight title |
| 31 | Win | 28–1–2 | Oscar Hall | TKO | 3 (10), 2:41 | 16 Apr 2004 | Pennington's, Bradford, England | |
| 30 | Win | 27–1–2 | Fred Kinuthia | KO | 2 (12), 2:51 | 27 Sep 2003 | MEN Arena, Manchester, England | Retained Commonwealth light-welterweight title |
| 29 | Win | 26–1–2 | Jurgen Haeck | RTD | 4 (10), 3:00 | 5 Apr 2003 | MEN Arena, Manchester, England | Won European Union light-welterweight title |
| 28 | Win | 25–1–2 | Giuseppe Lauri | TKO | 2 (12), 1:21 | 23 Nov 2002 | Storm Arena, Derby, England | |
| 27 | Win | 24–1–2 | Lucky Sambo | TKO | 2 (8), 2:52 | 19 Oct 2002 | Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland | |
| 26 | Win | 23–1–2 | Laatekwei Hammond | TKO | 2 (12), 1:56 | 8 Jul 2002 | Grosvenor House, London, England | Won vacant Commonwealth light-welterweight title |
| 25 | Win | 22–1–2 | Alan Bosworth | TKO | 3 (12) | 16 Mar 2002 | Royal & Derngate, Northampton, England | Won vacant British light-welterweight title |
| 24 | Win | 21–1–2 | Colin Mayisela | TKO | 2 (12), 0:45 | 27 Oct 2001 | MEN Arena, Manchester, England | WBU International light-middleweight title |
| 23 | Win | 20–1–2 | Alan Temple | KO | 5 (6), 2:25 | 27 Oct 2001 | Ponds Forge, Sheffield, England | |
| 22 | Win | 19–1–2 | Brice Faradji | TKO | 1 (6) | 22 May 2001 | Telde, Spain | |
| 21 | Win | 18–1–2 | David Kirk | TKO | 2 (4), 1:10 | 10 Mar 2001 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 20 | Win | 17–1–2 | Christopher Henry | TKO | 3 (8) | 25 Nov 2000 | Wythenshawe Forum, Manchester, England | |
| 19 | Win | 16–1–2 | Steve Conway | TKO | 4 (8) | 20 Oct 2000 | Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland | |
| 18 | Loss | 15–1–2 | Zab Judah | UD | 12 | 24 Jun 2000 | Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland | For IBF light-welterweight title |
| 17 | Win | 15–0–2 | Arv Mittoo | PTS | 4 | 8 Apr 2000 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 16 | Win | 14–0–2 | Mihai Iorgu | TKO | 1 (8) | 21 Mar 2000 | Telde, Spain | |
| 15 | Win | 13–0–2 | Harry Butler | PTS | 6 | 6 Nov 1999 | Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, England | |
| 14 | Win | 12–0–2 | Isaac Cruz | PTS | 8 | 17 Jul 1999 | The Dome Leisure Centre, Doncaster, England | |
| 13 | Win | 11–0–2 | Malcolm Melvin | TKO | 2 (12), 1:33 | 13 Feb 1999 | Telewest Arena, Newcastle, England | Won vacant WBF (Federation) light-welterweight title |
| 12 | Win | 10–0–2 | Karl Taylor | PTS | 4 | 28 Nov 1998 | Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England | |
| 11 | Win | 9–0–2 | Mark Winters | PTS | 8 | 5 Sep 1998 | Ice Rink, Telford, England | |
| 10 | Win | 8–0–2 | Jan Piet Bergman | PTS | 6 | 18 Apr 1998 | NYNEX Arena, Manchester, England | |
| 9 | Win | 7–0–2 | Brian Coleman | PTS | 6 | 5 Mar 1998 | Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, England | |
| 8 | Draw | 6–0–2 | Mark Ramsey | PTS | 6 | 7 Feb 1998 | Grundy Park Leisure Centre, Cheshunt, England | |
| 7 | Win | 6–0–1 | Michael Alexander | PTS | 4 | 4 Oct 1997 | Stadionsporthalle, Hanover, Germany | |
| 6 | Win | 5–0–1 | Brian Coleman | PTS | 4 | 2 Aug 1997 | Metrodome, Barnsley, England | |
| 5 | Win | 4–0–1 | Andreas Panayi | TKO | 5 (6) | 15 May 1997 | Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, England | |
| 4 | Win | 3–0–1 | Trevor Meikle | PTS | 6 | 25 Apr 1997 | Golf and Country Club, Mere, England | |
| 3 | Win | 2–0–1 | Lee Molyneux | TKO | 6 (6), 1:43 | 20 Mar 1997 | The Willows, Salford, England | |
| 2 | Win | 1–0–1 | John Green | PTS | 6 | 4 Mar 1997 | Tall Trees Hotel, Yarm, England | |
| 1 | Draw | 0–0–1 | Cam Raeside | PTS | 6 | 18 Jan 1997 | Green Bank Leisure Centre, Swadlincote, England | |