Heavyweight Schedule for 2018

[The Hammer]

Team Oquendo is already in Grozny, Chechnya. Chagaev WBA title fight on Sunday.

[The Hammer]

[yoz]

Joseph Parker goes to 9-0 with a win over Brian Minto, who was down twice in the fight. Minto’s corner stopped the fight after round seven.

Joseph Parker is an interesting prospect. I like that he is stepping up - it's just a shame the Sherman Williams fight fell through.

[yoz]

Hard to get excited by Ruslan's victory; it's for a pointless belt.

I wonder if Haye will be looking at getting hold of that belt, and then pose/masquerade as 'champ', a la Povetkin.

[yoz]

Courtesy of Butch Gottlieb of FightNewas

We went 'one on one' with heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings as he trains for his upcoming WBC championship eliminator with fellow unbeaten Mike Perez, which is scheduled to take place on July 26th from New York's Madison Square Garden. Jennings-Perez is the HBO televised co-feature to the middleweight main event between WBA/IBO champion Gennady Golovkin and challenger Daniel Geale. The winner of this fight should meet the winner of the proposed Bermane Stiverne vs Deontay Wilder WBC heavyweight title bout.

You and Mike Perez, other then being a southpaw, seem to be almost mirror images of each other. How do you feel about this fight?

Keep in mind that I live boxing. I am never out of shape, I don't drink and I don't smoke. I have the strength of a heavyweight and the athletic ability of a light heavyweight. I do not worry about any of my opponents nor do I underestimate anyone.

The winner of this fight should be next in line against the winner of the WBC heavyweight title fight between the champion, Bermane Stiverne and Deontay Wilder. How do you feel about meeting either of these fighters?

I feel that Bermane started slow and when he finally went to work he easily beat Arreola. As far as Wilder goes, I feel that he is the kind of fighter that you have to keep pressure on constantly. With Wilder stopping everyone within a couple of rounds I don't feel that he does himself or the sport any justice. It is like beating up on a little kid. I don't think that is great preparation for what is to come at the top.

What do you think of Tyson Fury?

As long as he respects me, I respect him. One day we will clash. When he fought Steve Cunningham I thought he showed that he was vulnerable.

Since you are considered more of a boxer and instead of a puncher, what did you thing of this past weekends fight between Ruslan Provodnikov and Chris Algeiri?

I had Algeiri winning after the first couple of rounds. His boxing was superb. I don't know why people don't embrace the fact that all you have to do is score. If I get hit with one power punch but I come back and hit you five or six times, which counts more? Boxing is a scoring sport.

How often would you like to fight?

I am the type of fighter who would fight every other week but I know that it takes time to sell a fight and advertise it so I go with the flow but I live in shape. I can say that I will not take any senseless fights any longer. Only fights that move me up the ladder to the title.

[The Hammer]

Gerber-Sanchez fight is here, as is the Chagaev-Oquendo fight:

[yoz]

Chazz Witherspoon's ring return:

Paulsboro's Chazz "The Gentleman" Witherspoon will return to the boxing ring for the first time in two years.

Witherspoon will take part in Saturday's main event when he squares off against Newark's Tyabb Beale at the RiverWinds Community Center in West Deptford.

A victory, Witherspoon believes, could get him back in the national mix for heavyweight title contention.

"I kind of fell out of the rankings just due to inactivity alone," Witherspoon (30-3, 22 KOs) said. "Once I start fighting again, I'll be back, and eventually, down the road, get myself in contention for another title shot. Everybody wants a shot at the title."

Extraneous circumstances have spelled an unwelcomed hiatus, but the 32-year-old's focus never waned.

"Even when he's not in the gym, which is rare, he's always doing the right thing," said trainer Wade Hinnant, who has been with Witherspoon for the last 12 years. "He never does anything harmful to his body."

The heavyweight's eight-round bout will headline an event promoted by Witherspoon's company, Silver Spoon Promotions. Also on Saturday's card are locals Thomas "Cornflake" LaManna of Millville, Camden's Louis Cream, Ismael Garcia of Vineland and Cherry Hill's Anthony Prescott.

Witherspoon hopes the local event will shine a light on the sport and perhaps even provide the impetus for other South Jersey athletes to take their own swing at boxing.

"South Jersey has a lot of good athletes," Witherspoon began. "We have some of the best wrestlers in the country. If people were just to go into boxing, I think we would produce some high quality boxers."

Beale, who is 7-1-1 in his last nine bouts, tips the scales 20 pounds heavier, according to Witherspoon, a stat garnering the local fighter's attention.

"Any time you give up 20 pounds, you have to be a little leery so you don't run into anything ******," Witherspoon said. "Punches hurt."

After graduating a National Honor Society member from Paulsboro High School in 1999, Witherspoon displayed telling prudence, turning down multiple Division 1 athletic offers in basketball and track in favor of attending school locally, on a full academic scholarship.

He began his amateur boxing career in 2002, a sop****re at St. Joseph's University, and won his first Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves title just a calendar year later.

The sport seemed to come naturally to Witherspoon, whose second cousin, the renowned "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon, was a two-time world heavyweight champion himself.

Fittingly ***8212; though, no less impressively ***8212; Witherspoon saw a remarkably rapid ascent up the national boxing ranks.

By the conclusion of just his second year in the ring, Witherspoon had qualified as an alternate for the Athens Olympics in 2004, captured his second State Golden Gloves title, and advanced on to the finals in Kansas, Missouri, where he was ultimately crowned the 2004 National Golden Gloves Champion.

He turned pro later that year, proceeding to go undefeated over his first 23 bouts. On Saturday night, Hinnant is looking for Witherspoon to prove that he's still a contender.

"Every fight is a championship fight right now," Hinnant said.

"If he can dispense with any butterflies early on, you won't see much ring rust at all."

In true gentleman fashion, Witherspoon says this boxing event will have a refreshingly different atmosphere.

"It's going to be family friendly, with ring-card kids, moms and dads. If you've never been to a boxing event, it's a lot different in person and the punches are a lot harder. It'll be a lot of fun."

[The Hammer]

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