No Josh Taylor? No problem.
So says Lewis Ritson who still dreams of a huge night in the middle of St James’s Park as he continues his journey in the world light-welterweight division.
That journey can afford no mishaps against the very experienced and still highly-motivated Miguel Vazquez in Peterborough on Saturday, October 17.
Victory in his WBA Inter-continental title match is, as they say, a must.
It is almost 12 months to the day since Ritson put down his marker at 140lbs with a fight-of-the-year contender with victory over Robbie Davies Jnr at the Utilita Arena on the banks of the Tyne.
That WBA world title eliminator sparked immediate talk of an England v Scotland super-fight at Newcastle United’s stadium in 2020 with promoter Eddie Hearn looking quite excited at the prospect.
But when Ritson pitched up at Ben Davison’s gym in Essex to spar with the Tartan Tornado, you knew it was looking a non-starter.
It has not upset the Sandman, far from it, the 27-year-old has taken great encouragement from his 18 rounds of sparring with the WBA and IBF champ and made him even more ambitious to challenge for the world title.
“Talking to Josh, he’s got a plan and we’ve got ours, so St James’s looks out of the window, with him anyway,” smiled a relaxed Ritson.
“We’ll get someone else for that.
“It’s showed us where we are and it showed me that we are not far off that level.
“I know sparring’s sparring and you can’t base everything on what happens, but we did 10 rounds one day with Josh and eight rounds two days later and we were very happy with how it went, I felt very sharp.”
While the Corona virus pandemic has put paid to all the plans of big fights, for the time being anyway, Ritson says all the training he has done with coach Neil Fannan in Hartlepool has made him even better.
“I believe we are up there,” said the Forest Hall man.
“The lockdown has been good in one way because it’s given me the chance to learn things with Neil and work on my technique and stuff like that.
“Neil will tell you himself that I’ve come on three or four levels since the Davies fight.
“Fanno is pretty much old school and it’s a good school to be in, I’m learning so much.
“I’m looking forward to showing people what I can do.”
That chance comes on Saturday in front of the Sky Sports cameras in Peterborough, where the wily Vasquez awaits, an opponent who told punch-lines he still has world ambitions of his own.
“I need to make sure I’m on the ball and at the levels I’ve been performing at,” added Lewis. “If I am then I’m confident you’ll see another good performance from me.”
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Mark Robinson/ Matchroom
