Chazz Witherspoon (born September 16, 1981) is an American former professional boxer. The second cousin of former boxing champion Tim Witherspoon, he emerged as a talented boxer in the 2000s. He won the 2004 National Golden Gloves finals in Kansas City, Missouri, and by collecting all wins via stoppage, he became the first man in the history of the Golden Gloves to win the National Title by all stoppages.

In 2008, holding a record of 23–0 with 14 KOs, he was set to fight fellow heavyweight prospect Chris Arreola to determine America's top heavyweight contender.^[1][2] Witherspoon lost the fight, and Arreola went on to challenge world champion Vitali Klitschko. After this defeat, he had three wins (all by knockout) before losing again, this time to Tony Thompson, in December 2009. He had four more wins (three by knockout) before suffering his third defeat, to Seth Mitchell, in a fight he was winning.

Witherspoon saw another title shot when he was set to fight former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk with just a few days' notice, after Tyrone Spong, Usyk's scheduled opponent, tested positive to a banned substance.^[3]

Witherspoon came to the fight after a streak of 8 wins (6 by knockout) since his loss to Mitchell, having defeated Tyyab Beale, Cory Phelps, Galen Brown, Nick Guivas, Michael Marrone, Carlos Sandoval, Lamont Capers and Santander Silgado. Witherspoon lost the fight against Usyk as he retired in his corner after round 7.^[4]

Early life and education

Witherspoon was born the oldest of three children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Eric Witherspoon.^[5] He attended Paulsboro High School, where he played basketball and^[6] graduated with a 4.0 GPA and as a member of the National Honor Society.^{[citation needed]} Upon graduation, he was offered three NCAA Division I basketball scholarships and two track scholarships,^[2] but chose to instead accept a full academic scholarship at Saint Joseph's University.^[1] He graduated from Saint Joseph with a degree in pharmaceutical marketing in 2005.^[2]

Witherspoon's cousin Tim later introduced him to experienced boxing trainers Randy and Wade Hinnant, and both assisted and encouraged his development in the sport.^[1]

Amateur career

Witherspoon began his amateur boxing career in his sophomore year at Saint Joseph's University. A year later, Witherspoon won the Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves title. Five months later he placed third at the 2003 National Police Athletic League Tournament. Three months after that he won the Middle Atlantic Regional Tournament, qualifying him for the U.S. Championships and in the process was awarded the title of “Most Outstanding Boxer”.

He took second place at the 2004 U.S. Championships, which qualified him for the Olympic trials, where he advanced to the Olympic Box-offs but only made the Olympic team as an alternate.

Two months after returning from the Athens Olympics he won his second Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Title, thus advancing to the 2004 National Golden Gloves finals in Kansas City, Missouri which he won, all wins via stoppage. He is the first man in the history of the Golden Gloves to win the National Title by all stoppages.^[7][2]

His amateur record is 26 wins and 6 losses.

Professional career

Known as "The Gentleman", Witherspoon turned pro in 2004 and was undefeated for the first 23 of his professional bouts, winning 15 by KO.

Coming from a winning streak of 23 wins (15 by knockout), the undefeated Witherspoon was set to fight against Chris Arreola to determine the top heavyweight contender of America. Before the fight, Lou DiBella stated: "The winner [of Witherspoon vs Arreola] is clearly going to be the guy [who emerges as a top heavyweight contender]".^[2] HBO's Larry Merchant stated: "Witherspoon and Arreola clearly are the two most advanced, relatively unknown American heavyweights. The winner will emerge as the better of the two and immediately goes on the short list of U.S. contenders who could be in line to get a crack at one of the world titles in the relatively near future".^[1]

On June 21, 2008, Witherspoon lost the fight against fellow heavyweight prospect Chris Arreola in which he was disqualified in the third round. Arreola landed a barrage of punches that was capped off by a chopping right that sent Witherspoon to the canvas. The bell rang early in the count, prompting Witherspoon's corner to begin entering the ring. This was ruled by the referee to be a disqualification since the round is not technically over until the count is over.^[1]

Witherspoon in his next fight defeated Adam Richards by 8th-round TKO, in an action packed fight which received Ring Magazine's 2008 Heavyweight Fight Of the year.^{[citation needed]}

Witherspoon next fought Travis Fulton and Willie Perryman, defeating both of them by knockout. He then suffered the second defeat of his career at the hands of Tony Thompson, losing by TKO in the ninth round. He then defeated Livin Castillo in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on August 28, 2010. Three months later, on November 19, 2010, he defeated Alexis Mejias, also in Atlantic City. Witherspoon had two more wins (both by knockout) before suffering his third defeat, being defeated by Seth Mitchell in a fight Witherspoon was winning.^[8][9] Witherspoon next had a winning streak of 8 victories (six by knockout), overcoming Tyyab Beale, Cory Phelps, Galen Brown, Nick Guivas, Michael Marrone, Carlos Sandoval, Lamont Capers and Santander Silgado.

Witherspoon vs. Usyk

Witherspoon saw another title shot when he was set to fight former undisputed cruiserweight champion and future unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk had been set to debut in the heavyweight division on October 12, 2019, at the Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, against Tyrone Spong.^[10] However, Spong tested positive for clomiphene, a banned substance, just a few days before the bout. The promoter Eddie Hearn announced that several backup fighters were being considered^[3] among whom Witherspoon was chosen.^[11] Thus, Witherspoon joined the fight with a few days' notice.^[12]

Eventually Usyk won the fight as Witherspoon retired in his corner after round 7.^[4]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
42	Loss	38–4	Oleksandr Usyk	RTD	7 (12), 3:00	12 Oct 2019	Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, US
41	Win	38–3	Santander Silgado	RTD	2 (8), 3:00	23 Mar 2019	Showboat Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
40	Win	37–3	Lamont Capers	UD	8	10 Mar 2018	Claridge Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
39	Win	36–3	Carlos Sandoval	TKO	4 (10), 1:25	1 Oct 2016	Sun National Bank Center, Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
38	Win	35–3	Mike Marrone	TKO	3 (6), 1:31	6 Aug 2016	Grundy Arena, Bristol, Pennsylvania, U.S.
37	Win	34–3	Nick Guivas	TKO	3	15/08/2015	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
36	Win	33–3	Galen Brown	TKO	5	18/04/2015	Pennsauken, New Jersey, U.S.
35	Win	32–3	Cory Phelps	TKO	2	24/01/2015	Pennsauken, New Jersey, U.S.
34	Win	31–3	Tyyab Beale	TKO	8	12/07/2014	West Deptford Township, New Jersey, U.S.
33	Loss	30–3	Seth Mitchell	TKO	3	28/04/2012	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	For WBO–NABO heavyweight title.
32	Win	30–2	David Saulsberry	KO	2	04/02/2012	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Won IBS North American Continental heavyweight title. Saulsberry knocked out at 0:42 of the second round.
31	Win	29–2	Ty Cobb	KO	3	22/10/2011	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Cobb knocked out at 1:07 of the third round.
30	Win	28–2	Alexis Mejias	RTD	4	19/11/2010	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Mejias retired at 3:00 of the fourth round.
29	Win	27–2	Livin Castillo	TKO	7	28/08/2010	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:21 of the seventh round.
28	Loss	26–2	Tony Thompson	TKO	9	05/12/2009	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:13 of the ninth round.
27	Win	26–1	Willie Perryman	KO	2	29/08/2009	Tunica, Mississippi, U.S.	Perryman knocked out at 2:09 of the second round.
26	Win	25–1	Travis Fulton	TKO	3	28/03/2009	Miami, Oklahoma, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:43 of the third round.
25	Win	24–1	Adam "Swamp Donkey" Richards	TKO	8	15/11/2008	Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:29 of the eighth round.
24	Loss	23–1	Chris Arreola	DQ	3	21/06/2008	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.	For WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title. Referee disqualified Witherspoon after his corner entered the ring after a knockdown at the end of the third round.
23	Win	23–0	Domonic Jenkins	UD	10	16/04/2008	New York City, New York, U.S.
22	Win	22–0	Jonathan Haggler	TKO	4	15/02/2008	Sewell, New Jersey, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:44 of the fourth round.
21	Win	21–0	Kendrick Releford	UD	8	05/01/2008	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
20	Win	20–0	Ron Guerrero	RTD	5	29/09/2007	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	Guerrero retired at the end of the fifth round.
19	Win	19–0	Talmadge Griffis	TKO	9	27/07/2007	Saratoga Springs, New York, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:08 of the ninth round.
18	Win	18–0	Joe Stofle	TKO	3	19/05/2007	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:10 of the third round.
17	Win	17–0	Charles Davis	TKO	7	06/04/2007	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 0:19 of the seventh round.
16	Win	16–0	Patrick Smith	TKO	2	10/02/2007	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:38 of the second round.
15	Win	15–0	Earl Ladson	KO	3	14/10/2006	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Ladson knocked out at 2:13 of the third round.
14	Win	14–0	Innocent Otukwu	KO	2	15/09/2006	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Otukwu knocked out at 0:45 of the second round.
13	Win	13–0	Michael A. Alexander	UD	10	01/07/2006	Manistee, Michigan, U.S.
12	Win	12–0	Agustin Corpus	UD	6	11/05/2006	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
11	Win	11–0	David Polk	UD	6	07/04/2006	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
10	Win	10–0	Rodney Ray	TKO	2	03/03/2006	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:55 of the second round.
9	Win	9–0	Demetrice King	UD	6	05/11/2005	Stateline, Nevada, U.S.
8	Win	8–0	Lincoln Luke	TKO	2	29/09/2005	Glen Burnie, Maryland, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:00 of the second round.
7	Win	7–0	Vernon Woodward	TKO	3	06/08/2005	Tampa, Florida, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 0:43 of the third round.
6	Win	6–0	Marion Wilson	UD	4	16/06/2005	Glen Burnie, Maryland, U.S.
5	Win	5–0	Cornell Bradbury	KO	1	17/05/2005	Essington, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Bradbury knocked out at 2:14 of the first round.
4	Win	4–0	Harold Rodriguez	TKO	4	15/04/2005	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:40 of the fourth round.
3	Win	3–0	David Johnson	UD	4	18/02/2005	Santa Ynez, California, U.S.
2	Win	2–0	Yul Witherspoon	TKO	2 (4), 1:26	27 Jan 2004	Glen Burnie, Maryland, U.S.
1	Win	1–0	James Daniels	KO	1 (4), 1:53	12 Dec 2004	Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.