By Matt Rohr: On Friday night, heavyweight prospect Chazz Witherspoon (19-0, 13 KOs) had a much tougher time against Talmadge Griffis (24-7-3, 16 KOs), as he struggled much of the bout before coming on and stopping him in the ninth round of their 10-round bout at the City Center arena in Saratoga Springs, New York. Witherspoon, 25, the cousin of the heavyweight boxing great Tim Witherspoon, seemed timid in the early rounds, rarely throwing any meaningful punches aside from jabs.
Griffis, 32, on the other hand, was throwing most of the meaningful combinations up until the 6th round, when he appeared to wear down. Griffis, who took the bout on short notice, was outweighed by 30 pounds by Withersppon, making the fight seem to be between a heavyweight and a cruiserweight. If it hadn’t been for his stamina wearing out, Griffis would have had an excellent chance at making an upset of the hyped Witherspoon.
In the first five rounds, Witherspoon mostly stayed on the outside, where he seemed content to throw his jab, which is quite good, to be honest. However, when Witehrspoon would attempt other punches, like a right hand or left hook, they were thrown slowly and often missed. In watching Witherspoon’s fighting style, I can see where Wladimir Klitschko, whom Witherspoon sparred with extensively before Wladimir’s fight with Lamon Brewster, had an effect on Witherspoon’s offensive. For example, Witherspoon left hook and straight right hand looked like a carbon copy of Wladimir’s, though Witherspoon has some work to do before he can be nearly as accurate or effective with the punches.
In the sixth round, Giffis slowed way down, looking visibly fatigued. Upon seeing this, Witherspoon finally came out of his shell and began throwing numerous hooks and right hands, many of which landed cleanly. Grffis was still landing his own shots, but they were becoming fewer and fewer.
In rounds seven through nine, except for rare occasions, Witherspoon completely dominated the action, as he backed Griffis up with his jabs and punished him with combinations. However, Witherspoon still punched very slowly and had problems – at least until the 9th – putting punches together.
In the ninth round, Witherspoon attacked Griffis the moment the round started, beating him from one side of the ring to the other and landing powerful combinations on the inside. The referee then quickly jumped in and halted the bout before Griffis was knocked down. Of all the punches landed, a right hand at the start of the round appeared to do the damaged.