Junior Witter has plenty of incentives to go one better than Joe Calzaghe when he defends his WBC light-welterweight title against unbeaten American Timothy Bradley at Nottingham Arena on Saturday night.

Calzaghe was far from at his best in scraping a split decision over Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas last month, and while the Welshman's reputation escaped unscathed, Witter knows he can ill afford anything but the best.

The Bradford man's switch-hitting style has alienated many supporters and helped turn his chief domestic rival Ricky Hatton away from him - but a fine win over Bradley would crank up the calls for a super-fight.

Witter said: "I look at what Joe did against Hopkins and he did enough to win but he didn't shine. I've got to go out there and win, but I've also got to go out there and shine."

Witter certainly faces a tough test against ambitious Bradley but is itching to get back in the ring after his scheduled contest against Demetrius Hopkins in the US last month was cancelled when Hopkins withdrew.

"It's worked out very well," added Witter. "The cancellation was a pain but it's turned out better for me. I'm back in sooner rather than later and it's against a more dangerous opponent.

"Bradley has a great record and he's a decent puncher. He's very confident, he thinks he's going to be a legend and he's coming to win. That's just the sort of test I want at this stage in my career."

Also on the card, Nottingham puncher Carl Froch bids to move closer to a shot at the WBC super-middleweight title when he faces late replacement, American Rubin Williams.

But John Murray's mouth-watering English lightweight title fight against John Fewkes has been called off with the unbeaten Sheffield fighter suffering from a stomach ailment.

More news from SportingLife.com