Vacating title is no bad move
It was always a case of WHEN, not IF North East boxing star Lewis Ritson jumped up from lightweight. But this week the likeable Geordie has taken the inevitable plunge, confirming his move up a division, in doing so the Matchroom Boxing fighter has vacated his British title.
Regular readers of this column will know that I have questioned the decision to keep Ritson at 135lbs.
Seeing him at the weigh in for his European title bout against Francesco Patera, it was easy to see Ritson was struggling to boil down to the limit. The dropping of the underwear, the necessity of a towel on the scales and the unnatural intake of fluids in the aftermath of making weight were the tell tale signs that something had to change.
This is no bad thing for Ritson, though, as some critics would have you believe.
I’ve already seen suggestions on social media that Ritson won’t be able to hack it at the higher weight class.
I’m certain that extra 5lbs will make the world of difference.
Against Patera it was not Ritson’s skills that lost him the fight. He just lacked a plan B, as well as battling the demons on the scales, which has the power to drain any fighter, no matter their talents, in the squared circle.
He came up short, and might do so again, but as long as he has learned lessons he will continue to have a very successful career, and continue to blaze a trail for the region’s boxers on the national and (hopefully) international stage.
Some absolutely massive bouts could lie ahead at that weight, if Ritson can carry his power up.
In the region we have Glenn Foot, if he shelved retirement plans, and then if you look north of the border there’s the likes of Scottish boxing legend Ricky Burns and rising world level star Josh Taylor, as well as fighters such as Jack Catterall, Terry Flanagan, Robbie Davies Jnr and Ohara Davies.
That dream of a St James’s Park fight night are certainly not over for Ritson.
The biggest positive to come from recent events was the decision to roll back plans for another big night at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle.
While that has come as a big disappointment to fight fans in the region, it is no bad thing for the North Tynesider.
At this stage, moving up a weight, on the back of a loss, it makes sense to take the fighter away from the glare of the North East limelight.
While he seemed to thrive off the support, it was clear to see how much it hurt Ritson to lose in front of his own fans.
The chance to fight on the banks of the Tyne will come again for Ritson, but some time away, fighting elsewhere, will do him no harm as he continues to sharpen the tools and find his level.