By James Slater – Last night on the Dawson-Hopkins II card, unbeaten, hugely exciting U.S heavyweight hope Seth Mitchell came through the biggest crisis of his pro career to stop a game Chazz Witherspoon in the 3rd-round.
An ultra-exciting slugfest that saw both guys rocked, 29-year-old Mitchell finally won it in the 3rd, when two smashing rights slammed into 30-year-old Witherspoon’s jaw, prompting ref Randy Neumann to dive in and stop the fight. The official time was 2-minutes and 31 seconds. Mitchell is now 25-0-1(19). Witherspoon is now 30-3(22)..
An entertaining fight right from the first bell, it was the experienced Witherspoon who enjoyed success first. Looking aggressive and “up” for the fight in a big way, Witherspoon landed some big right hands to Mitchell’s largely untested jaw. Shocked, stunned and groggy, Mitchell’s big plans looked, temporarily at least, to be close to going out the window. Proving way too easy to hit, Mitchell survived and must have been glad to hear the bell.
Showing some reassuring grit and heart, not to mention toughness, “Mayhem” came back in the 2nd. Landing some hard head shots of his own, Mitchell also dug in some good body work. A good comeback from the warrior from Brandywine.
Then, a few seconds into the 3rd, Mitchell sent Witherspoon down with a nice left hook to the head. “Gentleman” Chazz got up but the ending was soon in coming. Having his man on rubbery legs and pounding Witherspoon all over the ring, Mitchell banged in two hard rights upstairs that sent the older man into the ropes. Referee Neumann dived in and began a count, before deciding to wave the fight off. There were no complaints from anyone.
First, the good news: Mitchell showed heart and a good chin in surviving and coming through that torrid opening round. Mitchell showed some classy punching in the 2nd and 3rd-rounds. And Mitchell kept his head when he was hurt and also when he had his man hurt.
The bad news: Mitchell’s defence was terrible last night, wide open as he was to right hand after right hand. Mitchell clearly needs at least five more fights before his team can even think about putting him in with one of the Klitschkos.
Mitchell remains a heavyweight to watch; still arguably THE best unbeaten American heavyweight, and however far he manages to get in his career, Mitchell will give fans a helluva lot of value for money. Mitchell is raw, but he is also raw excitement.