Junior Witter today expressed his shock and sadness over the sudden death of former two-weight world champion Diego Corrales.

The 29-year-old Californian, who died in a Las Vegas motorcycle accident on Monday night, had been pencilled in as a possible future opponent for Bradford's WBC light-welterweight title holder.

Witter said: "It is surreal to think Corrales is no longer around. He was a young man with so many years and big fights in front of him.

"We were trying to do something with him. It hadn't worked out as yet but might have had possibilities.

"I couldn't believe the news when my trainer Dominic Ingle told me. It just shows that you never know in life what's round the corner."

Witter is waiting for confirmation of his mandatory world title defence against Vivian Harris. The fight will take place in England, possibly in either Norwich or Nottingham, and must happen in the summer.

Meanwhile, Witter will swap boxing gloves for football boots when he plays in a charity match in aid of the Sheffield Children's Hospital on Saturday at Barnsley's Oakwell (1.30pm).

He said: "I can hold my own on a football pitch but if I could play as well as I box then I'd be laughing."

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