|
Chazz vs James Daniel
- December 2004
Convention Center, Washington, DC, USA
For budding heavyweight prospect Chazz
Witherspoon, his pro debut last December 12
wasn’t too much different from his usual forays
into the ring. And with the exception of
fighting for the first time without headgear and
a t-shirt, the result was pretty much the same –
a knockout.
But behind the overhand right that sent James
Daniel to defeat at 1:53 of the first round was
a realization by Witherspoon that he was now
fighting on the level where he can either make
it all the way to a world championship or become
like the scores of fighters who never reach
those lofty heights. Now everything’s on the
line with each clang of the bell.
"Nobody really looks at your amateur record and
it doesn’t count, so that slate is gonna get
wiped clean, whereas though this is forever;
this is definitely for keeps," said Witherspoon.
"So I think that the atmosphere is a little
heightened being as though this is your pro
career and there’s nothing else after this. It’s
going to be your record for life, so you
definitely have to go out there with that type
of intensity."
Daniel will attest to Witherspoon’s intensity,
and that’s also bad news for whomever the Philly
heavyweight steps into the ring with this
Thursday in Glen Burnie, Maryland for the 2005
premiere of Ballroom Boxing. But given the
history of Scott Wagner’s long-running series,
Witherspoon probably won’t be given an easy mark
to fight on Thursday.
"It’s gonna be what it’s gonna be," said
Witherspoon. "I’m not really worried about it
because I know I’m prepared for the fight. I’m
just gonna go there and give it my all."
On a card filled with highly touted prospects
like 2004 US Olympic Bronze medallist Andre
Dirrell, his brother Anthony, hard-hitting Nick
Casal, and the Fernando Vargas-managed Daniel
Cervantes, Witherspoon, at just 1-0, would
normally have to fight for room among his peers
when it comes to news space. But with a deadly
combination of heavy hands, a winning
personality and story, a famous last name
(shared by his cousin Tim), and the tireless
efforts of ace publicist Fred Sternburg, it’s
been hard to look around without seeing
something written about the young man.
"The media coverage, I know that I’m getting a
lot of that off the fact that my name is Chazz
Witherspoon, so I wasn’t really that surprised,"
he admits. "But I’m hoping that I can get my own
little following on my own merits."
That shouldn’t be difficult for the 23-year-old,
who mixes his obvious talent in the ring with a
compelling story that can bring life to a
moribund division. Come on, where else do you
see a kid with a knockout punch who is also one
class away from graduating from college with a
degree in Pharmaceutical Marketing? That’s
right, nowhere.
And even though Witherspoon spends three hours
every Tuesday night in St. Joseph’s University
taking a statistics class, the rest of his time
is spent hitting other people, not the books, as
he’s still preparing for his final exams in
boxing, a sport where he relies not only on his
athleticism and hard work, but by observing
veteran practitioners of the craft.
"I do know that I’m definitely on the learning
curve, and the thing I think that comes with
experience is the ring maturity - they’re very
calm in the ring, they’re not wasting any
unnecessary energy – and the ability to be able
to see something and adapt to it right on the
spot," said Witherspoon. "I see things, but it
takes me a little longer to see it because I
feel I have an untrained eye. I can come back to
my corner and my coach will say, ‘well, he’s
doing this, you need to counter this way,’
whereas though a mature, experienced fighter
sees it for himself and makes the adjustment in
the ring. They have outside people telling and
helping them also, but they can see a certain
amount on their own and make an adjustment on
the spot, and that’s where I’m looking to be
with the experience. I’m looking to gain that."
It will come in time for Witherspoon, who
amazingly has only been boxing for a little
under three years, soon after he put basketball
aside for academics when he entered St. Joseph’s
on an academic scholarship.
"I don’t miss basketball at all," he admits.
"I’d like to be able to play it from time to
time but now all my time is devoted to boxing so
I feel guilty, because every time I even go to
pick up a ball I know I could be doing something
to help me with the boxing. I’ve been boxing two
years and eight months now, and I’ve picked up a
ball maybe four times. And I used to practice
every day about two hours a day. I miss the
practicing a little bit, but not the actual
games and going to games, because I’m doing
something else. I’m fighting now, so I’ve got a
fight coming up, so that’s like a game. One just
replaces the other."
So there will be no pickup games for the 6-4
Witherspoon, who averaged 21 points a game as a
high school senior.
"No, I can’t afford to sprain my ankle," he
said. "I just wouldn’t do that personally. One
thing I do that can help is that I prioritize,
and if something’s not a high priority on the
list, then it’s not going to be done. Boxing is
the number one priority now. I put that on top
of school now because now I’m a pro and I only
have the one class, and then I graduate in May."
Then it’s all boxing all the time, and even
though he’s taking small steps each day in the
gym when it comes to his development, he’s
noticing the difference from when he first
picked up the mitts.
"It happens over time, and it kind of just
happens out of nowhere because I’m starting to
notice things in the ring now, and you have to
take an appreciation to it because I can say
‘wow, two months ago I didn’t know this,’" said
Witherspoon. "So you’ve got to kind of review it
and be conscious about it all the time in order
to appreciate what you’ve gained over the time.
I don’t think about the fact that just a year
ago I still had to worry about stepping with
each punch and making sure I was turning my
punches. But now that I’m doing that naturally,
I have to think about it in order to recognize
the fact that I’m doing it. It’s a conscious
effort but you’ve got to stay on top of it. You
can’t take things for granted. I go back to the
drawing board and I think that helps me. I go
back after every fight, whether it’s a win or a
loss, and I look at it as though it was a loss,
and I try to critique every little thing. I
dwell on what I’m doing wrong; I don’t really
concern myself with what’s going right because
that’s self-evident. What you’re doing right is
seen on its own. I just concern myself with what
I’m not doing right and that kinda helps me."
Maxboxing.com
|
Free Newsletter
|
|
|
By