by James Slater – According to BoxRec, a decent heavyweight match-up will take place on the under-card of the upcoming Paul Williams-Sergio Gabriel Martinez clash – the middleweight non-title bout already being supported by another heavyweight bout between Chris Arreola and Brian Minto. Once-beaten hope Chazz Witherspoon is down as facing former IBF and WBO heavyweight title challenger Tony Thompson on Dec. 5th in Atlantic city, N.J..
A fairly intriguing fight and a solid match-up, Witherspoon-Thompson, while not exactly a potential barnburner, could be a good fight. The younger man by a decade at age 28, Witherspoon has only bean beaten by the man who will be placed second on the December 5th bill, Chris Arreola. “The Nightmare” won a 3rd-round DQ over Chazz back in June of last year. Knocked down and hurt, Witherspoon was disqualified because one of his corner-men climbed into the ring while the round was still underway.
Since then, however, Witherspoon, 26-1(18) has won three in a row, and he last fought in August of this year, wining by a 2nd-round KO. A win over veteran southpaw Thompson would go some way towards getting Chazz back in the mix for a possible title shot. Still young and, we hope, full of ambition, the cousin of former two-time heavyweight champ Tim Witherspoon will be having what is potentially his toughest fight of his career barring the match with Arreola.
Thompson, 32-2(20) and best known for his losing challenge of IBF and WBO heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko back in July of 2008, has fought, and won, just once since the 11th-round KO loss to “Dr Steel Hammer.” Now aged 38, but still relatively fresh due to his not having taken any bad beatings in his pro career (the loss to Wladimir aside), Thompson, with his experience, will surely feel he can take Witherspoon.
Ambition, though, is what will win this fight in my opinion. Does Thompson, who has had eight months of inactivity to his name since his winning return over the little-known Adnan Serin, really want to work his way up and get in position for a second fight with a Klitschko? Perhaps his inactivity had something to do with him having trouble getting a fight, so we must give “The Tiger” the benefit of the doubt on that; but does he still believe he can become a world champion?
Witherspoon should be the man with more desire to win next month, but then again, did the hurtful stoppage loss to Arreola knock a great deal of confidence out of him? And how will Witherspoon deal with Thompson’s stance and fine right jab?
Scheduled for ten-rounds, I think the fight that each man must know he has to win will go the distance. There might not be too many fireworks during the 30 minutes of action, but some good boxing should be on display. Neither guy is all that fast, though, so the drama may take a few rounds to build.
I see Witherspoon’s youth and greater aggression taking him to a close points win. Unless “The Tiger” is indeed hungry for one more run at a belt, that is.