ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The buzz circling around the Boardwalk before heavyweight bomber Seth Mitchell (24-0-1) stepped in to face Chazz Witherspon (30-2) was that it might be a quick fight. Powerful and American, Mitchell came into the bout as a hot prospect in the division, with night-ending power in his fists.
True to form the fight almost ended in round 1, but it was Seth Mitchell who found himself dazed and seemingly out on his feet.
Though badly buzzed, Mitchell was able to survive the onslaught of hooks that the Philadelphia native threw his way, and escaped the 1st round on shaky legs.
Mitchell knew Witherspoons’ jab was his chief problem after the 1st round. “My main concern was to not let him get his jab on track,” Mitchell said. “It was killing me… It was like a fly in my face.”
Round 2 started with the men trading strong jabs. As Mitchell started to take the fight to him, Witherspoons’ effective jab vanished and he had nothing to keep Mitchell from boring in and launching a withering body attack.
“I could see it in his eyes he was coming for me,” Mitchell said. “I never stopped using my body shots, they were slowing him down and he had no defense for them.”
With both guys working hard, the 3rd round took a sudden turn as the two young heavyweights started launching hooks at one another. Mitchell’s was the faster and once it connected, Witherspoon stumbled back and to the mat.
Rising on unsteady legs, Witherspoon looked in serious trouble, but got a temporary reprieve as Mitchell failed to jump on him. Looking leery to launch an all out assault, Mitchell didn’t press and Witherspoon steadied himself over the next minute.
But as the round wore on a few cuffing shots had Witherspoons’ legs giving out and Mitchell finally drove him to the ropes and unleashed two right hands flush on the chin that caused the referee to stop the bout at 2:31 of the 3rd round.
After the fight Mitchell admitted, “I’m gonna be honest, I was a little nervous for this fight because he has a lot of experience.”
For his part Witherspoon acknowledged his own mistake: “I got a little excited after I had him hurt. He dealt with adversity great. I was fighting a stupid fight. I was just looking for the knockout.”
But if Witherspoon was looking for that knockout, Mitchell was the one who found it.
“If I catch a fighter flush I can change a fight, just like that,” he said.
