Chazz Witherspoon (The Gentleman) boxer

Chazz Witherspoon (born September 16, 1981) is an American 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.Witherspoon saw another title shot when he was set to fight former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk with just a few days' notice, after Tyrone Spong, Usyk's scheduled opponent, tested positive to 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.The oldest of three children, he was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Eric Witherspoon. A former basketball standout, Witherspoon graduated from Paulsboro High School in 1999, with a 4.0 GPA and as a member of the National Honor Society.citation needed Upon graduation, he was offered three Division I basketball scholarships and two track scholarships, but he instead chose to accept a full academic scholarship at St. Joseph’s University, which he earned through his class performances at Paulsboro High School. He graduated from Saint Joseph with a degree in pharmaceutical marketing in 2005.Thus the young Witherspoon, described as well-educated, intelligent, and polite, gave up basketball to concentrate on his studies. Until he was a sophomore, Witherspoon never thought about boxing, and before 2002 he had never stepped onto a ring, nor attended a boxing bout. His cousin Tim introduced him to experienced trainers Randy and Wade Hinnant, and informed him of the mental side of boxing, which Witherspoon grew to understand.He began his amateur boxing career in his sophomore year of college. 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”.