{"id":746,"date":"2021-06-07T14:25:39","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T14:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/?p=746"},"modified":"2021-06-07T14:25:39","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T14:25:39","slug":"ritson-i-cant-wait-for-the-fans-to-be-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/?p=746","title":{"rendered":"RITSON: I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE FANS TO BE BACK!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\u2018The Sandman\u2019 meets Ponce in IBF Final Eliminator<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lewis Ritson<\/strong> says the return of fans will help push him on to a vital win when he meets undefeated Argentinian Jeremias Ponce<\/strong> in a Final Eliminator for the IBF Super-Lightweight World Title at the Vertu Motors Arena, Newcastle on Saturday June 12, live on Sky Sports<\/strong> in the UK and on DAZN<\/strong> in the US and more than 200 countries and territories.

‘The Sandman’ (21-1, 12 KOs) struggled without the backing of his fanatical Geordie support last time out as he battled to a controversial split decision win against Mexico’s Miguel Vazquez behind closed doors at the East of England Arena in Peterborough \u2013 an experience the 27-year-old says he has learnt from.

\u201cI haven\u2019t really watched it back but a couple of days later I went to my dad\u2019s house and asked him if he\u2019d watched the fight,” Ritson<\/strong> recalled. “He said yes, and I asked him to be truthful about what he thought of it. He was honest and said we got the rub of the green, we got very lucky and we got gifted a decision, but that it is up to me whether to dwell on it or improve on it. 

“That\u2019s what we\u2019ve done, we\u2019ve gone away and made a few changes in camp. It was just a clash of styles. I think I was probably Vazquez\u2019 best performance in a few years and it was one of my worst to be fair. You live and you learn, there was maybe a few things that we could have done differently in that fight. We know that now and we\u2019ve got the experience in the bank.”

Ritson made the decision to part ways with Neill Fannan and return home to Forest Hall to train with his father Dave following the disappointment of the Vazquez performance \u2013 a move that he is confident will turn out to be the right one as he closes in on a dream World Title shot in the 140lbs division. 

\u201cI\u2019m back with my old man. I had a little bit of thinking to do after my last fight. I half hinted that I wanted to come home, and my dad half hinted that he wanted to be back training me. It was the right move for me and we\u2019ve been flying in camp. A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter, it\u2019s probably the first time in a while that I\u2019ve been quite happy.

\u201cI\u2019ve got a little girl and I was sick of being away from her in the end. I was down there stuck in a flat, training twice a day and then nothing else to do, especially with the lockdown. I could have been back home with my little girl. I\u2019ve got another little girl on the way so that definitely played a part in it. I can\u2019t wait for fight night now and to show people that the Vazquez fight was a bit of a slip up. I\u2019m going to be back better and stronger.”

In his last fight in front of his Newcastle faithful, Ritson produced a career-best performance to beat bitter rival Robbie Davies Jr in an enthralling Fight of the Year candidate. A fight with the newly-crowned Undisputed Super-Lightweight ruler Josh Taylor could await Ritson if he earns another memorable win this weekend. 

\u201cIt\u2019s just a buzz to be back, especially with the crowds. Even with 1,000 in there, the place will be jumping for the ring walk. That\u2019s what I need to get me up for these fights. I can\u2019t wait for the fans to be back shouting and cheering. Before the Vazquez fight I was saying that it wouldn\u2019t make much of a difference, but you actually don\u2019t really know that until you get in there. I missed my fans massively, so I\u2019m glad that they\u2019ll be back. They\u2019ll give me that extra push. 

“I’m fully focused on Ponce. We\u2019ve got to make sure that we beat him and beat him well. We know what he\u2019s coming to do and he\u2019s coming to win. He\u2019s coming to have a go. Stylistically he\u2019s a bit like me \u2013 good jab, throws to the body and stands in front of you. If it goes like we think, then it\u2019s going to be a very crowd-pleasing fight and a hard night.

“He could be one of those undiscovered gems out of Argentina. We\u2019re not taking him lightly, we\u2019ve seen the South Americans come over, one beat my mate Robbie, there\u2019s a few that have upset the applecart, so we\u2019ve got to make sure that we\u2019re on the ball and it doesn\u2019t happen to us. 

“I\u2019m only 27 but I feel like I\u2019m a bit of a veteran now, I\u2019ve had like 12 fights on Sky and with Matchroom. I\u2019m still young and I\u2019m still fresh. I haven\u2019t really taken any punishment and I\u2019ve still got a lot to give. The journey is still young \u2013 win this next fight and then hopefully the next fight after that will be what every young boy dreams of. 

“If you\u2019d have told me I\u2019d be fighting for a World Title one day at the start of my career, I wouldn\u2019t have believed you. We\u2019re in a very good place and we\u2019re one win away. We\u2019ve grown into the weight now. For a while I was up at Light-Welter but still in a Lightweight’s body. Now I\u2019m a fully-fledged Light-Welter. I\u2019m bang on 10 stone, fit and strong. You\u2019re going to see a bit more explosiveness in the punches.”

Ritson vs. Ponce tops a big night of action in Newcastle as fans return in the North East, West Rainton’s Thomas Patrick Ward <\/strong>(29-0-1, 4 KOs) takes on Mexico’s Edy Valencia Mercado<\/strong> (17-5-6, 5 KOs) in a ten round Featherweight clash, Former Team GB standout Cyrus Pattinson <\/strong>makes his professional debut in a six round Super-Welterweight clash with Bulgaria’s Yoncho Markov <\/strong>(4-2, 2 KOs), <\/strong>Croatian Heavyweight sensation Alen Babic <\/strong>(6-0, 6 KOs) returns to action following a shoulder injury, Catford Super-BantamweightEllie Scotney<\/strong> (2-0) meets Spain’s Vanesa Caballero<\/strong> (4-9-3) over eight rounds, Birmingham Heavyweight Solomon Dacres<\/strong> (1-0) clashes with Spain’s Alvaro Terrero <\/strong>(5-11-2, 3 KOs) over six rounds, Benwell Welterweight Joe Laws <\/strong>(9-1, 5 KOs) fights Nestor Maradiaga <\/strong>(9-10-2, 5 KOs) over six rounds and Wallsend Welterweight April Hunter <\/strong>(3-0) meets Hungary’s Klaudia Vigh<\/strong> (3-27-1, 2 KOs).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018The Sandman\u2019 meets Ponce in IBF Final Eliminator Lewis Ritson says the return of fans will help push him on to<\/p>\n

Continue readingRITSON: I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE FANS TO BE BACK!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[193,192],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":748,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746\/revisions\/748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gosportsandentertainment.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}