Geordie favourite Lewis Ritson believes that veteran Hank Lundy is the battle-tested opponent he needs as he seeks to reignite his career following a bruising 10th round defeat to Jeremias Nicholas Ponce in June.
Ritson (21-2, 12 KOs) returns to the fray against Philadelphian Lundy at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle on October 16, on a BOXXER promotion televised live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Lundy (31-9-1, 14 KOs) was last seen taking the highly-rated Jose Zepeda the full 10 rounds in May and challenged Terence Crawford for the WBO 140lbs title in February 2016. Ritson feels Lundy is the ideal measuring stick as he seeks to relaunch his career in front of his fanatical home fans.
“It’s great to be back live on Sky Sports and in my home city and I can’t wait to hear the roar of the crowd,” said Ritson. “I wanted to come back with a test and Lundy will definitely provide that. Apart from Ponce, he will be the hardest fighter that I’ve fought. We got offered a fighter a few levels below Lundy but I wanted a challenge and to put a great fight on for the fans.
“Lundy is a very dangerous opponent. He gave Crawford a good go, he’s only been stopped twice – by Crawford and John Molina – and he’s just fought the world number two in his last fight [Zepeda], took him to points and wobbled the lad quite badly.
“It’s definitely going to be a hard night’s work on October 16 but we wanted to jump straight back into the mix with an opponent who is very experienced at world level. I didn’t want to offer the fans an underwhelming fight which would have them giving me stick on social media! It’s going to be tough night but we’re looking at a Ritson victory.”