Lewis Ritson: ‘You let out your inner demon’

Lewis Ritson

LEWIS RITSON likes to fight. โ€œItโ€™s one of them where you can let out the inner demon a bit, just get stuck in. I donโ€™t think any fighter truly likes getting hit on the end of their nose but itโ€™s the sort of thing when youโ€™re used to it and you donโ€™t react to it, you enjoy it. Itโ€™s a passion. Thatโ€™s what Iโ€™ve got. And a little bit of the warrior comes out in the ring and I enjoy that,โ€ he tells Boxing News.

He expects Argentinaโ€™s Jeremias Ponce to give him a real battle on Saturday (June 12) in Newcastle. โ€œI think itโ€™s going to be a hard fight,โ€ he said. โ€œThere are going to times when weโ€™re both going to have dig deep on Saturday night and itโ€™s probably going to come down to who wants it more. Heโ€™s in the same position as me. Heโ€™s possibly one fight away from the big โ€˜un that every boxer wants when they turn over, to be a world champion. So thereโ€™s going to be a lot riding on the line. Itโ€™s going to be a rough, tough fight.โ€

It is a final eliminator for the IBF super-lightweight title, one of the belts currently held by Josh Taylor. โ€œHopefully, for my sake, he does go up and the belt is vacant because heโ€™s a bit special,โ€ Ritson says with disarming honesty. โ€œHeโ€™s done it all now, hasnโ€™t he, at this weight. Nothing left to prove, heโ€™s got the four belts.โ€

โ€œBut who knows? He might want a big fight, get quite a bit of money. Iโ€™m not going to say no to it, if itโ€™s there,โ€ he continued. โ€œThereโ€™ll be a lot of money involved so who knows? But I think Josh has got Terence Crawford firmly in his sights.

โ€œHopefully get past Ponce and then fight for a vacant belt and hopefully we can get a defence at St. James’ Park. Thatโ€™s all anyone asks us.

โ€œHopefully it comes off.โ€

lewis ritson
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

Against Ponce Ritson needs the kind of performance that deserted him in his last fight again Miguel Vazquez behind-closed-doors in Peterborough last year. โ€œWe got the plan completely wrong,โ€ Ritson said. โ€œHeโ€™s running away, I cannot catch him so should I wait for him, should I not wait for him? Stuck in Catch 22 really, didnโ€™t really know what to do and that just led to me doing nothing really.

โ€œYouโ€™re sitting back stage kicking yourself really, thinking should have done this, should have done that, but too late.โ€

He continued to speak frankly. โ€œYou get the decision that really you shouldnโ€™t have got, I got the rub of the green but then everyone knows you shouldnโ€™t really be getting it,โ€ Lewis added. โ€œItโ€™s hard, so I took a bit time off social media. Just took myself away from it, youโ€™ve just got to keep plodding on.

โ€œLooking at it now, I would have preferred the decision just to go to Vazquez. People are still going to call you because it was a terrible performance but then they were calling us for the performance and calling us for the resultโ€ฆ It wasnโ€™t my fault. Three of the judges judge the fight. Two of them had us winning.

โ€œYou got all these people saying heโ€™s a disgrace for not rematching Vazquez but what promoter would want to put that fight back on? None.โ€

Ritson has a special connection with his fans. He felt their absence and the silence in the arena keenly last time out. โ€œYou could hear like a pindrop really. I didnโ€™t think it was going to affect me until I was actually there,โ€ he said. โ€œIt was a terrible night for all the North East fighters, me, Tommy [Ward], Joe [Laws], the Bubble, lockdown, all played itโ€™s part.โ€

He does feed off the crowd and having 1000 supporters back on Saturday will make a difference, a difference that he could need. โ€œHaving a thousand fans back will be great,โ€ Ritson said. โ€œIt gives you that little bit extra.

โ€œWeโ€™re doing well. 11th fight on Sky for Matchroom. Iโ€™ve headlined quite a few now, fifth or sixth where Iโ€™ve been headlining. So Iโ€™ve not done too bad. Hopefully we just keep pushing on and pushing on.โ€

He wants to keep progressing and he hopes to do that against Jeremias Ponce. But he also just wants to have a fight.

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