Chazz Witherspoon (born September 16, 1981) is an American former professional boxer. The second cousin of former boxing champion Tim Witherspoon, he emerged as a talented boxer in the 2000s. He won the 2004 National Golden Gloves finals in Kansas City, Missouri, and by collecting all wins via stoppage, he became the first man in the history of the Golden Gloves to win the National Title by all stoppages.
In 2008, holding a record of 23–0 with 14 KOs, he was set to fight fellow heavyweight prospect Chris Arreola to determine America's top heavyweight contender. Witherspoon lost the fight, and Arreola went on to challenge world champion Vitali Klitschko. After this defeat, he had three wins (all by knockout) before losing again, this time to Tony Thompson, in December 2009. He had four more wins (three by knockout) before suffering his third defeat, to Seth Mitchell, in a fight he was winning.
In 2019, Witherspoon was set to fight former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in his first fight at heavyweight, with just a few days' notice, after Tyrone Spong, Usyk's scheduled opponent, tested positive for a banned substance. Witherspoon came to the fight after a streak of 8 wins (6 by knockout) since his loss to Mitchell, having defeated Tyyab Beale, Cory Phelps, Galen Brown, Nick Guivas, Michael Marrone, Carlos Sandoval, Lamont Capers and Santander Silgado. Witherspoon lost the fight against Usyk as he retired in his corner after round 7.
Early life and education Witherspoon was born the oldest of three children in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Eric Witherspoon. Raied in Paulsboro, New Jersey,Edwards, Robert. "Witherspoon giving back to community", Gloucester County Times, January 25, 2010. Accessed September 2, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Witherspoon grew up in West Philadelphia and Paulsboro and went on to earn a degree from St. Joseph's University and escape from any outside distractions that would've kept him from succeeding in life." he attended Paulsboro High School, where he played basketball and graduated with a 4.0 GPA and as a member of the National Honor Society. Upon graduation, he was offered three NCAA Division I basketball scholarships and two track scholarships, but chose to instead accept a full academic scholarship at Saint Joseph's University. He graduated from Saint Joseph with a degree in pharmaceutical marketing in 2005.
Witherspoon's cousin Tim later introduced him to experienced boxing trainers Randy and Wade Hinnant, and both assisted and encouraged his development in the sport.
Amateur career Witherspoon began his amateur boxing career in his sophomore year at Saint Joseph's University. A year later, Witherspoon won the Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves title. Five months later he placed third at the 2003 National Police Athletic League Tournament. Three months after that he won the Middle Atlantic Regional Tournament, qualifying him for the U.S. Championships and in the process was awarded the title of “Most Outstanding Boxer”.
He took second place at the 2004 U.S. Championships, which qualified him for the Olympic trials, where he advanced to the Olympic Box-offs but only made the Olympic team as an alternate.
Two months after returning from the Athens Olympics he won his second Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Title, thus advancing to the 2004 National Golden Gloves finals in Kansas City, Missouri which he won, all wins via stoppage. He is the first man in the history of the Golden Gloves to win the National Title by all stoppages.
His amateur record is 26 wins and 6 losses.
Professional career Known as "The Gentleman", Witherspoon turned pro in 2004 and was undefeated for the first 23 of his professional bouts, winning 15 by KO.
Coming from a winning streak of 23 wins (15 by knockout), the undefeated Witherspoon was set to fight against Chris Arreola to determine the top heavyweight contender of America. Before the fight, Lou DiBella stated: "The winner [of Witherspoon vs Arreola] is clearly going to be the guy [who emerges as a top heavyweight contender]". HBO's Larry Merchant stated: "Witherspoon and Arreola clearly are the two most advanced, relatively unknown American heavyweights. The winner will emerge as the better of the two and immediately goes on the short list of U.S. contenders who could be in line to get a crack at one of the world titles in the relatively near future".
On June 21, 2008, Witherspoon lost the fight against fellow heavyweight prospect Chris Arreola in which he was disqualified in the third round. Arreola landed a barrage of punches that was capped off by a chopping right that sent Witherspoon to the canvas. The bell rang early in the count, prompting Witherspoon's corner to begin entering the ring. This was ruled by the referee to be a disqualification since the round is not technically over until the count is over.
Witherspoon in his next fight defeated Adam Richards by 8th-round TKO, in an action packed fight which received Ring Magazine's 2008 Heavyweight Fight Of the year.
Witherspoon next fought Travis Fulton and Willie Perryman, defeating both of them by knockout. He then suffered the second defeat of his career at the hands of Tony Thompson, losing by TKO in the ninth round. He then defeated Livin Castillo in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on August 28, 2010. Three months later, on November 19, 2010, he defeated Alexis Mejias, also in Atlantic City. Witherspoon had two more wins (both by knockout) before suffering his third defeat, being defeated by Seth Mitchell in a fight Witherspoon was winning. Witherspoon next had a winning streak of 8 victories (six by knockout), overcoming Tyyab Beale, Cory Phelps, Galen Brown, Nick Guivas, Michael Marrone, Carlos Sandoval, Lamont Capers and Santander Silgado.
Witherspoon vs. Usyk Witherspoon was set to fight former undisputed cruiserweight champion and future two-time undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk had been set to debut in the heavyweight division on October 12, 2019, at the Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, against Tyrone Spong. However, Spong tested positive for clomiphene, a banned substance, just a few days before the bout. The promoter Eddie Hearn announced that several backup fighters were being considered among whom Witherspoon was chosen. Thus, Witherspoon joined the fight with a few days' notice. Eventually Usyk won the fight as Witherspoon retired in his corner after round 7.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes42Loss38–4Oleksandr UsykRTD7 (12), Oct 12, 201941Win38–3Santander SilgadoRTD2 (8), Mar 23, 201940Win37–3Lamont CapersUD8Mar 10, 201839Win36–3Carlos SandovalTKO4 (10), Oct 1, 201638Win35–3Mike MarroneTKO2 (6), Aug 6, 201637Win34–3Nick GuivasTKO3 (10), Aug 15, 201536Win33–3Galen BrownTKO5 (10)Apr 18, 201535Win32–3Cory PhelpsTKO2 (10), Jan 24, 201534Win31–3Tyyab BealeTKO8 (8), Jul 12, 201433Loss30–3Seth MitchellTKO3 (12), Apr 28, 201232Win30–2David SaulsberryKO2 (10), Feb 4, 201231Win29–2Ty CobbKO3 (8), Oct 22, 201130Win28–2Alexis MejiasRTD4 (10), Nov 19, 201029Win27–2Livin CastilloTKO7 (10), Aug 28, 201028Loss26–2Tony ThompsonTKO9 (10), Dec 15, 200927Win26–1Willie PerrymanKO2 (6), Aug 29, 200926Win25–1Travis FultonTKO3 (10), Mar 28, 200925Win24–1Adam RichardsTKO8 (10), Nov 15, 200824Loss23–1Chris Arreola3 (12), Jun 21, 200823Win23–0Domonic JenkinsUD10Apr 16, 200822Win22–0Jonathan HagglerTKO4 (8), Feb 15, 200821Win21–0Kendrick RelefordUD8Jan 5, 200820Win20–0Ron Guerrero5 (8), Sep 29, 200719Win19–0Talmadge GriffisTKO9 (10), Jul 27, 200718Win18–0Joe StofleTKO3 (8), May 19, 200717Win17–0Charles DavisTKO7 (8), Apr 6, 200716Win16–0Patrick SmithTKO2 (6), Feb 10, 200715Win15–0Earl LadsonKO3 (8), Oct 14, 200614Win14–0Innocent OtukwuKO2 (6), Sep 15, 200613Win13–0Michael A. AlexanderUD10Jul 1, 200612Win12–0Agustin CorpusUD6May 11, 200611Win11–0David PolkUD6Apr 7, 200610Win10–0Rodney RayTKO2 (4), Mar 3, 20069Win9–0Demetrice KingUD6Nov 5, 20058Win8–0Lincoln LukeTKO2 (6), Sep 29, 20057Win7–0Vernon WoodwardTKO3 (6), Aug 8 20056Win6–0Marion WilsonUD4Jun 16, 20055Win5–0Cornell BradburyKO1 (4), May 17, 20054Win4–0Harold RodriguezTKO4 (4), Apr 15, 20053Win3–0David Johnson4Feb 18, 20052Win2–0Yul Witherspoon2 (4), Jan 27, 20051Win1–0James Daniels1 (4), Dec 12, 2004
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