By Jerry Glick: Sometimes talent
runs in families; talent sometimes
get passed from one family member to
the next generation. That’s exactly
what Chazz Witherspoon is hoping
for. His father and former
Heavyweight Champion Tim
Witherspoon’s dad are cousins. That
would make the two younger
Witherspoons second cousins.
Chazz Witherspoon will be taking his
next step up the ladder on ESPN2 on
a card promoted by Pugnacious
Promotions that will include
knockout artist Andre Berto against
Cosme Rivera in the main event, at
the City Center in Saratoga Springs,
New York.
Chazz is a heavyweight boxer too, so
having a few of the same genes that
cousin Tim has in him would be quite
a blessing. So far so good; Chazz is
undefeated sporting an impressive
19-0 (12 KO’s) record.
He sure needed some of those genes
when he sparred recently in
preparation for his upcoming fight
with the very experienced Talmadge
Griffis, putting in a few rounds
with one of the slickest boxers in
the game, “Fast” Eddie Chambers. The
same Eddie Chambers who picked apart
the formally undefeated Derric Rossy.
They worked together at James
Schuler’s Gym in Philadelphia.
“I believe I’m ready for him,” said
Witherspoon. “I come to fight.”
This reporter could not help but
notice that Chazz Witherspoon fought
someone named Yul Witherspoon. Yes,
Yul! He and Chazz are not related.
“We talked about it and decided that
there was no blood between us,”
recalled Chazz, good or bad.
With such an accomplished relative
does that have an affect on young
Chazz? Does Tim train the unbeaten
prospect? Fact is, while Tim is
there for him when needed, he is not
training him, nor will you find Tim
in Chazz’ corner when he fights.
“Right now I have advisers,”
informed Chazz. “I don’t have a
manager.”
Just recently DiBella Entertainment
signed Chazz up to be a part of
DiBella Entertainment. He will join
Curtis Stevens, Jaidon Codrington,
also known as The Chin Checkers,
along with Gary Stark, Edgar
Santana, and a bunch of other
talented youngsters.
“He’s the whole reason that I got
into boxing.” said Chazz of his
cousin Tim. “I used to play
basketball,” said the tall (6’4”,
not tall enough) Witherspoon. “It
didn’t look like the
NBA was going to
be in my future,” said the realistic
young heavyweight.
“He got me more mentally ready to
box,” observed Chazz. “(Boxing’s) a
whole lot more mentally challenging
than it looks,” said Chazz.
“There’s a mental aspect to it that
you have to come to terms with,”
said Chazz.
“I’m in shape, I come to fight, I’m
getting stronger each fight, but I
lack experience,” said Chazz. “Like
you said, Talmadge isn’t that good
but he’s been in with a lot of good
guys. I need more experience before
I try to knock off those top tier
guys,” Chazz observed, being honest
with himself.”
“I don’t want jump the gun,” said
Witherspoon. “In
boxing as soon as
you lose a fight they say you can’t
fight. So you don’t really have room
for mistakes in boxing.” He knows
that he is not ready for the more
experienced high ranking contenders
such as Toney, Holyfield, and
Klitschko.
“I’ve only been boxing for five
years,” said Witherspoon. “From the
time I first put on a glove.”
There is an old saying in boxing,
“You’re only as good as your last
fight.”
“So I’m trying to get the
experience,” said Witherspoon. “I’m
only 25 so time is on my side.”
“I’m a realist,” said Witherspoon,
wise beyond his years. “I want get
another eight fights under my belt
(before I fight the top contenders).
I haven’t fought anybody yet. I know
I’ve been moved correctly. I know
this is a step up for me and I have
to pass this test.”
“My goal is to get better with each
fight,” said Witherspoon. “I’m a
blessed individual.
If all it took was the IQ to do it
correctly every fighter could become
a world champion so now is the time
for a fighter such as Witherspoon to
show that he is more than just a
good fighting name. He needs to show
that being related to a good fighter
is helpful to a point, but that you
need more than good genes; you need
desire, courage, the ability to
learn, power, and much more to
succeed in this
sport, which is
more demanding of a man’s body and
spirit than any other.
By Keith Terceira
Recently, undefeated heavyweight
prospect Chazz Witherspoon ( 19-0,
12KO) inked a promotional deal with
DiBella Entertainment that allows
him to concentrate and focus even
more on his boxing career. Friday at
the City Center in Saratoga Springs,
New York, Witherspoon moves into
another level of competition when he
takes on veteran Talmadge Griffis
(24-6-3, 16ko).
Griffis is coming off a couple of
wins with two first round stoppages
since going 9 3/4 rounds with David
Tua and giving Clifford Etienne a
good 10 round run in 2004.
Chazz won’t blow smoke at you about
where he is in his career, he is a
straight shooter and knows that he
has some rough edges to work on
before he is as polished as he
desires. Though he admits he isn’t
as learned in the sport as he will
be, he is taking a good step in
raising his profile when he appears
on Friday Night Fights (ESPN2)
against Griffis.
Before we move on to the interview
lets get a couple of things out of
the way that the casual sports fan
may want to read about.
During our afternoon together I
didn’t get into all the casual
questions regarding Chazz’s
relationship with his cousin that
every interviewer goes into when
speaking to Chazz but from our
conversations I can answer a couple
of the casual fans’ normal
inquires. For Chazz it was both
tough and good going up in Philly as
Tim Witherspoon’s cousin with a lot
of people expectations being
unrealistic.
“Chazz has the potential to be a
world champion , he is a great
person , and a hard worker in the
gym. He may need a little more
polish before he takes on the likes
of Sam Peter or the Klitchskos," Tim
Witherspoon told us today.
Here is what Chazz had to say about
his upcoming fight Friday and on how
his career is coming along after
signing with Lou DiBella.
BoxingScene.com: Chazz do you have
any thoughts you want to express to
myself or to fans before we get into
the interview?
Chazz: One thing that I try to
impress upon people is the fact
that I know that I’m a work in
progress.
I’m a realistic fighter and not
one of those guys that is going to
try and sell you a bill of goods or
some load of bull. I am not going to
blow smoke about where I am in the
division or anything like that. I
try to be as realistic as possible
in all the things I do.
BoxingScene.com: Where you are
though is taking a bit of a step up
in facing Talmadge Griffis, don’t
you think?
Chazz: For real, definitely, I got
to put it to this guy. This guy can
fight. I saw him against the “Black
Rhino” and that was a war for the
first six rounds, until they started
running out of steam. I watched the
tapes with his fight against Tua and
Talmadge won a few of those early
rounds easy, but he looked like he
was fighting scared, not as
confident as he was with Rhino. This
guy can fight for real though.
BoxingScene.com: How do you feel
about your signing with DiBella
Entertainment?
Chazz: I am definitely happy about
that, I am honored that Lou wanted
to sign me and bring me in to
DiBella. I am hoping I can put on a
good performance for him. I was
disappointed in my performance when
I fought Michael Alexander on
television and I want the public and
Lou to see that I am a better
fighter than that.
BoxingScene.com: Have you had a
chance to be in the gym or work with
any of the other DiBella fighters?
Chazz: I knew both Berto (Andre)
and Jaidon (Codrington) from the
amateurs but no I haven’t had the
chance to be in the same gym as
them. I have spoken to them at a
couple of different fights.
BoxingScene.com: How does signing
with a major promoter like DiBella
affect your training or your comfort
level?
Chazz: I don’t know if I actually
have a comfort level, I’m one of
those guys that always think that
other guys are training harder than
me, and I try to train harder than
him, so I’m never really comfortable
as far as training. I’m the type of
guy that would over train before he
under trained. I know over training
is no good so I have to be careful
of that. Signing with Lou allows
other people to see that I’m serious
about the sport and people know that
Lou must see some talent here in
order to sign me up and take me on.
It kind of lets me know that at
least some of my work is showing. I
do know that people have not seen me
at my best, everyone is grading me
off that Showtime fight, of course
that is the only fight they have to
grade me off of.
I think I am a more skilled and
capable fighter than I displayed
that night.
BoxingScene.com: After the Michael
Alexander fight you got on a bit of
a roll with five fights by knockout
or TKO?
Chazz: Yes, I learned a lot after
the Showtime fight.
BoxingScene.com: What is the
toughest thing about facing Talmadge
this week?
Chazz: Out of the three fights that
I have of Griffis, he has fought
different in each of them, against
Tua he was a boxer and mover.
Against Etienne he stood there
trading shots and they warred. On
the other fight he both moved and
worked hard trading on the inside,
so it looks like he is a complete
fighter. Normally when you watch
tape on somebody you can see a weak
point or something you can expose.
From a skill standpoint he had sound
defense, quick hand speed , good
movement, so he appears a complete
fighter. I’m going to have to just
get in there and see what I’m
seeing when I’m in the ring with
him.
BoxingScene.com: Can you tell us who
you have been working with recently
in the gym?
Chazz: Sure for this fight I
actually got some work with Eddie
Chambers and Steve Cunningham. That
really helped because the work I was
getting before was not really in
Talmadge’s style.
BoxingScene.com: You are taking it
slow stepping up and Talmadge is
who he is in the division,
definitely a gatekeeper type in his
level. What do you think a dozen
fights before you are in the top ten
in earnest. Or is it going to take
less than that?
Chazz: A Dozen is playing it safe I
always say a year and a half maybe
two years. I’m not in a rush being
only twenty five, I’m not fighting
father time here. I tell people all
the time that Boxing is a very
unforgiving sport. It leaves you
very little room, no margin for
error. As soon as you lose one
fight, all of a sudden your whole
career comes into question, and
that’s funny to me. You really can’t
afford to jump in over your head
before your time because one loss
and you hear “I told you Chazz
Witherspoon was a fraud or "he is
going off of Tim’s (Witherspoons)
name", and “He is never going to be
Tim”. You see what I’m saying. You
really don’t have room, you have to
be careful. It’s not like the old
days where a guy could have a
several losses and be in the mix.
Back when Robinson fought LaMotta
several times people were more into
the wars and less into the records,
now everything is about that record,
the undefeated record, you have to
have that O behind you. Seems that
is what people care about.
BoxingScene.com: Give us your
thoughts on heavyweight boxing in
America coming back?
Chazz: It has the potential to with
guys like Eddie Chambers, Chris
Arreola, Kevin Johnson, Derrick
Rossi, I think if all of these guys
stay in boxing for the next few
years everything is looking bright
for American boxing and our
division.
BoxingScene.com: I know you want to
take one fight at a time but where
do you want to go after Griffis
should you prevail?
Chazz: I don’t look ahead but if
the Taylor-Pavlik fight comes off as
I think it will in Atlantic City, I
would like to be on that undercard.
Of course it would be up to Lou who
I would fight but I would love to be
on that show. I do want to say that
the only thing right now that I lack
is experience, I don’t lack the
drive or the determination.
BoxingScene.com: Chazz , how many
fights as an amateur did you have?
Chazz: I think it was 32 and I was
only an amateur for two years and
eight months. When I made the
Olympic team as an alternate I
hadn’t even been boxing two years.
When I got to the Olympic trials I
had 19 fights. Two months after the
Olympic trials I won the National
Golden Gloves Title, I was the
first person to have 5 stops in all
five fights. That was only two years
into my career so everything
happened relatively fast for me and
that’s why I say I’m only a work in
progress, kind of rough around the
edges. If I had more time to polish
my skills as an amatuer, take my
time, I could be a more polished
fighter, like Eddie Chambers who is
polished smooth. You can see how he
sets back and sets things up. I
come to fight and with strategy but
if my strategy doesn’t work and all
else fails then we are going to war
and we see who wants it more you or
me. I am not letting someone outwork
me if I can help it. They are going
to have to send me out on my back.
BoxingScene.com: If the strategy
doesn’t work the street fighting
will, right?
Chazz: That’s what its going to come
down to and I’m prepared for that.
I’m prepared for a rough fight and
I’m not looking past Talmadge at
all. He can punch to a certain level
with 16 stops out of 24 wins. You
have to respect that.
BoxingScene.com: Talking about
respect I have to give you your
props, because of your humility and
understanding of your position right
now in your career, a lot of guys
wouldn’t be so grounded?
Chazz: It’s not who I am, some guys
can back the talk up, guys like
Floyd and that caliber. They are
saying what they want because they
are backing it up. Some guys need
that talk to build themselves up to
get into the ring. It’s a business
, and business is to sell tickets,
to get people to watch the fight, so
I guess some do what they got to do.
Some people need that, need their
ego stroked and I’m not naming
anyone in particular. I’m not one of
those guys I guess, boxing doesn’t
make me the man that I am, I going
to be Chazz Witherspoon, I’m going
to be a standup guy, a gentleman
with or without boxing. If I lose
tomorrow I’m not going to change
into a different guy. If I’m ever
not considered a top prospect
anymore I am still going to be who I
am right now. I hate losing though
so don’t think I’m going out easy,
I’ll have to go out on my back.
With that we wrapped it up and
Chazz began his training day ,
perhaps the relationship between Tim
Witherspoon and Chazz in the
beginning of Chazz’z career gave
this young prospect a truly grounded
education in a difficult sport and
business. Whatever the outcome of
this career I came away with the
impression that Chazz Witherspoon
will be a success in anything he
does.
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