Where does Lewis Ritson go from here?
It’s the obvious question in the aftermath of the Sandman’s painful IBF final eliminator defeat to Jeremias Ponce in Newcastle.
While the question is obvious, the answer is not, but there is no rush to come up with one. There will be plenty of time to contemplate the future – the 27-year-old is rightly enjoying some family time with his daughter, Darcie, and fiancée, Samantha, who is expecting their second child this year.
One thing is for sure, there is a future for Lewis who fought bravely in defeat at the Vertu Motors Arena, where he was stopped in 10 rounds by an excellent and energetic South American champion.
Ritson, rated sixth by the IBF, began brightly enough against the unbeaten Argentine, ranked one place above him, who hurt him with a left hook to the body in the first.
Ponce threw the kitchen sink at him in going for a finish and was the dominant fighter throughout, with the possible exception of round five when Ritson enjoyed his best session.
You wondered if the 24-year-old, from Buenos Aires, would tire but he never did. And after soaking up considerable leather for half-an-hour, Ritson finally succumbed in the 10th round, going down three times after which referee, Steve Gray, belatedly, called a halt.
Addressing his fans via social media, Ritson said: “I just want to say a massive thank you to the messages and support and to the fans last night, the noise was unbelievable. It felt like there was 10,000 in the arena, not 1,000
“We try to push ourselves to the highest level we can. I am honest and a realist and that next level seems a step too far for us, we’ll keep banging on the door and there’s loads of great fights out there for us!
“If the truth be told, I shouldn’t have even made it out of the first round and took everything in me to do that – I kept fighting till the end.
“My corner told me I had one more round to change things or the towel was going in. I told Owen [Reay] ‘under no circumstances chuck the towel in’ and I’ve no problem with the referee chucking it out’. Ponce could have knocked me down 100 times and I’d have got back up!
“I’ve tried to reach the level everyone dreams and a world title fight and sadly we’ve tried and failed and aren’t at the level to get there.
“But being back home with my family is all that matters in the world to me, I’ve got my daughter and partner and another little girl on the way.
“I’m having some family time then the next move. I’ve already have a few names given and am very excited.”
There are plenty of options open to him..
Ritson is a free agent so can remain fighting on Eddie Hearn events on DAZN while punch-lines understands Sky Sports want to continue covering his fights when they begin their new post-Matchroom era.
While there was no dream night in Newcastle, Ritson’s career is far from over.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Jennifer Charlton
