Lewis Ritson vs Ohara Davies fight details
“The Sandman” faces “Two Tanks” in the North East this weekend!
BBN have provided all the details viewers need to tune in and watch super-lightweight rivals Lewis Ritson (23-2, 13KO) and Ohara Davies (24-2, 17KO) lock horns in an all-important 12-round Eliminator battle.
Everything you need to know about Ritson-Davies below:
Date: Saturday, March 4, 2023
Venue: Ritson gets the home advantage at the Newcastle Arena
Rounds scheduled: 12 three-minute rounds at super-lightweight (140lbs)
Titles: No titles but the fight is for a WBA Super-Lightweight Eliminator
Time: Event starts at 5pm GMT / 12pm ET
Ringwalks: Expected to be at 10pm GMT / 5pm ET
TV Coverage: Ritson vs. Davies is being screened from 5pm on FITE TV and can be purchased for $14.99
Tickets: There are still tickets left, from £47.95 upwards via TicketMaster
Undercard Highlights: Local lad Thomas Patrick Ward (33-0-1, 5KO) faces fellow unbeaten featherweight Otabek Kholmatov (10-0, 9KO), from Uzbekistan, in a WBA Featherweight Eliminator.
Background
Ohara Davies is the WBA #2 and Lewis Ritson is WBA #4, so the winner will get a world title shot at the WBA super-lightweight champion Alberto Puello (21-0, 10KO). However, the Dominican titleholder defends his belt to Rolando Romero in May, so the winner of Ritson-Davies will be in line to face the winner of that.
Both boxers possess very similar records with Londoner Davies just edging Forest Hall's Ritson on wins and knockouts. Another similarity is that the both beat Miguel Vazquez by decision, in fights that many spectators had the Mexican winning but was cruelly robbed on the scorecards.
Hackney's Davies has enjoyed a six-fight win streak since his 12-round points defeat to Jack Catterall over four years ago. Winning the MTK Golden Contract tournament elevated his stock back up to the echelons it once used to be. Ritson has bounced back from his loss to hard-hitting Jeremias Ponce in 2021 to win twice in three months between December 2021 to March 2022, but hasn't fought in almost a year.
It's a very worthy 50-50 domestic clash that hasn't had the promotion it really deserves.
Quotes
Davies: “I will take on anyone after this fight in Leeds, but Lewis Ritson is someone who stands out because that guy has been talking a whole lot of trash. I don’t see him lasting more than three or four rounds. I don’t mind going up to Newcastle, knocking out Ritson because it would be money for easy work. Ritson is not someone you need to do anything special for, he’s bang average, he’s nothing special, he just sells a lot of tickets in Newcastle.”
Predictions
Tim Rickson, BBN Editor: “These two have been on a collision course for some time now. Both are very evenly matched on paper with two losses each and just one win apart. Ritson's home advantage has worked for him in the past, notably against Miguel Vazquez in 2020, a former world champion who was also controversially denied by Davies in 2019. Davies has had more success in recent bouts, winning the Golden Contract tournament, so he has the better form and momentum on his side than Ritson.
“This fight is a decent 50-50 scrap, it's very hard to split the two rivals, who genuinely dislike each other, but I think the home advantage may sway it towards Ritson on a very close points decision. But, I'm in no way convinced of that, it could easily be Davies who emerges as the winner. For me, Ritson has fought at the higher level against the better opponents, so he remains my first choice. No matter what happens, there's a lot at stake so both are going to leave it all on the line!”
Tale of the Tape
Ritson
Age: 29
Bouts: 25
Wins: 23
Losses: 2
Draws: 0
Rounds: 145
KOs: 52%
Height: 5’ 10”
Stance: Orthodox
Davies
Age: 31
Bouts: 26
Wins: 24
Losses: 2
Draws: 0
Rounds: 134
KOs: 65.38%
Height: 5′ 7”
Stance: Orthodox
Weights
Check back one day before fight night
Running Order
Main Event:
Lewis Ritson vs Ohara Davies
12×3 WBA Super-Lightweight Eliminator
Chief Support:
Thomas P Ward vs Otabek Kholmatov
12×3 WBA Featherweight Eliminator
Undercard:
Lee McGregor vs Alexis Kabore
8×3 Super-Bantamweight
Adam Cope vs Brayan Mairena
6×3 Super-Featherweight
Ewan Mackenzie vs Serge Ambomo
6×3 Super-Welterweight
Steven Cairns vs Jakub Laskowski
6×3 Lightweight
Ben Rees vs Konstantin Aleksandrov
6×3 Super-Middleweight
Callum Walton vs Zdenko Bule
4×3 Super-Middleweight
Syed Shear vs Cristian Narvaez
4×3 Lightweight
Nathan Forrest vs Liam Fox
6×3 Super-Lightweight
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