Ritson vs Davies Jr & Cheeseman vs Fitzgerald: Grudges must be settled the old fashioned way

These are the type of nights that, so often, are remembered in several years’ time as the moment that a British boxer proved their bite could match their bark.

Book Taylor-Prograis and Chisora-Price

Lewis Ritson vs Robbie Davies Jr and Scott Fitzgerald vs Ted Cheeseman, both live on Sky Sports on Saturday from Newcastle, are crucial litmus tests in the careers of young and improving fighters but, more intriguingly, they are classic grudge matches.

They have all had plenty to say and someone’s words will be proved wrong, their confidence misplaced, their threats empty. That is the risk taken by Ritson, Davies Jr, Fitzgerald and Cheeseman, four ballsy men who don’t care about carefully weighing up risk and reward. They have all dived in with both feet.

These type of fights can produce spectacular and memorable results – George Groves beat James DeGale eight years ago and Anthony Joshua knocked out Dillian Whyte four years ago – two battles steeped in local rivalry and personal animosity.

On those nights they fought simply to stop the rumour mill and address what they believed to be reality. Such was the quality and popularity of those fights and those boxers that all four men, including those whose unbeaten records vanished in front of friends and family, have gone on to do pretty well for themselves.

Ritson and Davies Jr’s spat began as all great modern disputes do, on social media, and has evolved via sweaty ringside interviews and a backstage altercation that categorically proves one man’s weakness depending upon whose version of the story you believe.

“I just stared at him. He was mumbling something,” said Davies Jr of the night earlier this year in his home city when he and Ritson both won fights, then challenged each other.

“We’ve been staying in the same hotel, and the god’s honest truth, my hand on my heart, every time I’ve looked at him, he’s looked away.

“He will build the hype for the TV, but when it was just me and him, it was me who had front and not him.”

Ritson later said: “He was writing a few things on social media. It wasn’t me who backed out the two fights – it was him.”

Davies Jr hit back: “I’m here now, aren’t I? I told you I would come here, and I’m here now.”

Ritson and Davies Jr are both in the perilous situation of having lost once but recovered, and are eager not to lose again before reaching a higher level. Ritson was British lightweight champion but lost in Newcastle in a European title challenge, and has now moved up a division. Davies Jr has been British, European and Commonwealth super-lightweight champion. They have identical 19-1 records.

Next week Scotland’s Josh Taylor fights Regis Prograis in a world super-lightweight title unification fight, live on Sky Sports Box Office. Ritson and Davies Jr are a step away from that sort of opportunity but, should Taylor emerge with two world titles against Prograis, it makes a title challenge for a fellow Brit likelier.

Cheeseman and Fitzgerald collide in the latest chapter of a spicy domestic super-welterweight scene that also involves Anthony Fowler – it is a three-way rivalry that should spawn more fights regardless of Saturday’s result.

Fitzgerald finally came of age by beating Fowler in a battle of unbeaten prospects earlier this year – he was an underdog on that night, tipped to be the nearly-man but unwilling to agree to it. Fitzgerald earned a crack at Cheeseman’s British title – Fowler will come again, probably against one of those men as this rivalry continues to unravel.

Cheeseman, unlike Fitzgerald, was on a constantly upward curve and impressed in wins over Carson Jones and Asinia Byfield in which he won the British belt. Suddenly, though, Cheeseman finds himself without a win in two fights.

He fell short in a European title challenge then drew with Kieron Conway but the belt remains around Cheeseman’s waist.

More importantly than the gold is the pride and the bragging rights.

(c) Sky Sports 2019: Ritson vs Davies Jr & Cheeseman vs Fitzgerald: Grudges must be settled the old fashioned way