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2015-04-27
Introducing Juan Manuel Witt
Argentina has a rich history of successful junior welterweights among them Hall of Famer Nicolino Locche, former three-time WBA champion Juan Martin Coggi, and former WBA champ Ubaldo Sacco. In recent years, we've witnessed Marcos Maidana win a WBA title at 140 and then move up and win another at 147, Lucas Matthysse win the interim version of the WBC title and remain the consensus top contender for the lineal title, and Cesar Cuenca rise to the IBF's #1 contender's spot.

There are other Argentines moving up the ranks at 140- Martin Maximiliano Godoy, Oscar Maximiliano James, Matias Ezequiel Gomez, and, the subject of this article, the 28-year-old Juan Manuel "El Principito" Witt.

Witt's father admired boxers tremendously and gradually Juan Manuel developed his own passion for the sweet science. When it came time to chose the sport to which he would dedicate himself, Witt chose the sport he loved- boxing.

After a relatively brief amateur career of 32 fights (28 wins, 4 draws) , Witt made his professional debut on April 11, 2008. The four-round bout, in which he faced Fabian Humberto Sanchez, ended as a draw.

He won his next eight bouts, two by knockout, then had another four-rounder result in a stalemate. Since then, he's won twenty bouts in a row, scoring eighteen knockouts. During that stretch, he's won a plethora of national and regional titles.

On June 11, 2010, he won the first of those many titles when he knocked out Diego Vicente Perez in the sixth round to capture the Buenos Aires-based World Pugilism Commission's (WPC) Argentine lightweight title. After six more wins including a number of successful title defenses, Witt stopped Uruguayan Nestor Silva Diaz in the fifth round on August 20, 2011 to annex the WPC South American lightweight championship.

Witt won his third title after racking up another four victories. On February 16, 2013, he KOed Jonathan Ariel Riquelme Ramirez, a fighter he had previously defeated in an Argentine title defense, to win the vacant WPC Latino lightweight title. It was his last bout as a lightweight.

In his next contest, on August 17, 2013, he faced the then 11-2 Benjamin Alcides Cantero with the vacant World Boxing Fighters Inter-Continental light welterweight title at stake. Witt rose from a second round knockdown to knock out the Argentina-based Paraguayan in the third round.

Four months later, on December 20, 2013, Witt defended the Inter-Continental belt against fellow undefeated Argentine prospect, Oscar Ulises Lopez. It was Lopez whose "0" in the "L" column came a "1" as Witt knocked him out in the second round.

A rematch with Alcides Cantero, then 14-5-1, ensued, this time with the WPC South American super lightweight title on the line. On April 4, 2014, Witt halted his old foe in the second canto.

On May 24, 2014, Witt made his first appearance outside of Argentina when he traveled to Cotia, Sao Paulo, Brazil to defend his South American title against veteran Darli Goncalves Pires, the reigning WPC Mercosur welterweight champion. The bout resulted in Witt recording another second round knockout victory.

In his only bout since then, Witt, on December 12, 2014, defended the South American title with a sixth round knockout of Carlos Almerindo Alvarez. The win raised Witt's record as a pro to 28-0-2 with 20 wins by knockout.

When asked who his toughest opponent has been, Witt responded that so far in his professional career, "the hardest part of my fights was not my rivals, it was the pressure of commitment" to "retain my undefeated" status.

"El Principito" is now seeking bouts against a higher level of opponents and, in his words, "would love to fight in Europe but my dream is to fight in Las Vegas."

He was asked who he would like to fight next and he answered, "Zab Judah." When asked why, he explained that he had received a preliminary offer to fight Judah and though the offer was "not concrete," he hopes it materializes into a bout with the former multi-time world champion.

We at TTR wish Juan Manuel the best in the future. We hope he gets the opportunity to test his skills against fighters in Europe and in North America and that his dream of fighting in Las Vegas comes true.
 
Article By: Ken Pollitt