Rounds, rounds and more rounds.
That is what Team Ritson want when the British lightweight champion returns to the ring in a high-profile Sky Sports show next month.
Lewis Ritson will box an international non-title eight-rounder on the undercard of Amir Khan’s fight with Samuel Vargas in Birmingham on Saturday, September 8.
It has to be said ’rounds’ is something of an alien word to ‘The Sandman’, whose acquisition of the Lonsdale Belt have totalled just four rounds.
But coaches Neil Fannan and Davy Ritson want some ring-time for the unbeaten 24-year-old who has reeled off seven straight early wins since returning home under the management of Phil Jeffries in the summer of 2016.
“Amir’s a nice bloke and great fighter so it will be fantastic to box on that show,” Ritson told punch-lines. “I’m sure it’s going to be a good show.
“We’ve got this reputation for early finishes and while Neil likes the idea that opponents are scared he wants us to get some rounds in, so a non-title bout is ideal.”
September 8 at the National Indoor Arena will act as a prelude to a potential European title fight in his home Toon of Newcastle on Friday, October 13.
“I’m not certain what’s happening with the British title,” he said. “I assume Eddie [Hearn] will want us to vacate and hopefully we’ll get a crack at the European at the Metro Radio Arena.”
With a month to go to Birmingham, Lewis has been hard at work in the gym, splitting his week between Fannan’s gym in Hartlepool and his home Forest Hall HQ.
But the boxer says he enjoyed a breather after his first-round blast against Paul Hyland Jnr in mid-June.
“I had a nice week away in Majorca with my girlfriend and the bairn,” he said. “It was a hotel, nice for families. We had a good week.
“My fight might not have lasted long, but the camp takes it out of you.
“I would not say Neil killed me, hammered me maybe and got me fit as a fiddle!
“So after that it was nice just to have a few weeks off.
“But I’ve been back in a few weeks now and Neil has been working me hard, I was doing 10 rounders straight away!”
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Jennifer Charlton
