Frankie Gavin defeats Junior Witter to win British welterweight title

On Thursday in London at the famed York Hall, Frankie Gavin defeated Junior Witter via unanimous decision to lift the British welterweight title, and take another step closer to convincing the boxing public that he's committed and serious about his boxing career, and a future that once was considered among the brightest in the sport.

Gavin (14-0, 10 KO) won on scores of 119-109, 117-110, and 117-112, ending the brief title reign of veteran Witter (41-6-2, 22 KO), a former world titleholder who once was Ricky Hatton's media arch-nemesis.

The 27-year-old Gavin, who came into the sport with great amateur credentials and plenty of hype in 2009, has seen his prospect star dim a bit over the last two years, as he's had a few outings where he seemed to struggle, some issues on the scales that took him from 140 to 147, and some missed time due to personal troubles outside of the ring.

But his talent has never been in question, only whether or not he would use it to its full strength. Against Witter, he wasn't exactly awe-inspiring, but much of that was due to the lousy effort given by the 38-year-old, who was never exactly fun to watch, but nowadays is downright dreadful.

During the fight, Witter lost a point for holding in the 10th round, and was at one point verbally assaulted by his own corner for the ugly manner in which he was fighting. He all but gave the fight away to the younger man, in some respects, as he didn't fight like someone who came to win, but rather someone who was being paid for his troubles.

Though it may not erase all doubts, it's without question a great way for Gavin to close the year in the ring, and pushes his stock back up a bit after it dwindled for a while. He's obviously a promising fighter, and though there are certainly many levels left to go, and tougher fights than this one waiting down the line, it should be considered a good, solid win for him, and he can look forward to 2013.