Weekend Preview: BHop-Dawson 2 and Seth Mitchell
by Gautham Nagesh
This weekend’s boxing schedule is fairly packed, but the headliner in our view is clearly the man you see above. That’s Maryland heavyweight Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell, one of the local fighters we’ve been following since Stiff Jab’s inception. Mitchell fights Chazz Witherspoon on Saturday night at in Atlantic City, and as usual we'll be ringside to bring you all the action. By now the rest of the boxing world has caught up to the fact that Mitchell is the best heavyweight prospect America has to offer, unless you really think Tony Thompson or Chris Arreola can dethrone a Klitschko.
The former Michigan State linebacker silenced many of the questions about his late conversion to boxing with his December destruction of Timur Ibragimov on HBO. Since then, the media conversation about Mitchell has shifted from his past on the gridiron to his future inside the ropes. Seth’s natural athletic talent and work ethic have enabled him to pick up pugilism at a terrific pace, and his future prospects are aided by the fact heavyweights traditionally take longer to develop. At 29, Mitchell is now widely viewed as a future challenger for the world heavyweight title, potentially within the next 18 months.
Bringing the heavyweight crown back to America is a tall task, and would require subduing Wladimir Klitschko at a minimum. But doing so could make Mitchell the biggest name in boxing since Oscar de la Hoya hung up his trunks. None of that is possible if Mitchell loses to Witherspoon tomorrow night, which is why Seth sounded so focused when we spoke to him last week. Witherspoon has only lost at the very top level, so he will bring more experience and much greater amateur pedigree to Boardwalk Hall.[[MORE]]
I expect Witherspoon to try and box early in hopes of tiring Mitchell out, using his jab to keep the stronger man outside. Mitchell will try to get inside and use his jab to set up the right hand, but it’s his left hook that interests me most. If he fakes the counter with the right over Chazz’s jab, Seth can catch him leaning with the left hook. That was the punch that began Ibragimov’s slide.
We expect Seth to overcome and stop a game Witherspoon, likely at some point between rounds five and seven. It could happen earlier if Mitchell is really on his game or Chazz doesn’t look prepared, though he weighed in three pounds less than his last fight in February. Victory isn’t out of the question for Chazz, but he needs to either land a big shot or keep Seth moving for 12 rounds. Exchanging blows with Mayhem is a surefire way to end up on the canvas.
The actual headliner of Friday night’s card and on the HBO telecast is the rematch between light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins and New Haven’s “Bad” Chad Dawson. Their first meeting in October will be remembered mostly for being one of the worst headlining fights in Pay Per View history. The bout was eventually declared a No Contest after Dawson shoulder-tossed Hopkins to the mat. BHop injured himself and was unable to continue, but was later allowed to keep his 175-lb title.
Last time, I let my heart get the better of my head and picked Hopkins, even though I knew Chad’s style would give BHop problems. But their brief initial encounter confirmed my suspicion that Chad’s size and speed would be too much for the 47-year-old. I expect Chad to win a close decision, assuming we don’t get another Brandon Rios-Richard Abril situation in AC tomorrow night. A win by BHop would be a much better story and arguably better for the sport, but a loss would be devastating to Chad’s career. If he can’t beat Bernard now, he probably won’t ever get that big fight he’s been waiting for.
The undercard features junior middleweight Shawn Porter and junior welterweight Mikey Faragon, both well-regarded prospects, matched for eight rounds against journeymen Patrick Thompson and Sergio Rivera respectively. Hometown light heavyweight Lavarn Harvell and Toronto junior middleweight Phil Lo Greco will both take on stay-busy opponents. Finally, the highlight of the undercard might be a promising scrap between Philly middleweight Julian Williams prospect and Hector Rosario of Puerto Rico.
ESPN’s Friday Night Fights tonight from Austin, Texas features two big-time prospects looking for world title shots in the near future. Light heavyweight Ismayl Sillakh has impressed in limited air time; the Ukrainian will be looking for another impressive stoppage in an ethnic grudge match against unbeaten Russian Denis Grachev. But we’re more excited about Javier Fortuna, the Dominican sensation unearthed by manager Sampson Lewkowicz. Fortuna faces his biggest test to date in Cleveland’s Yuandale “Money Shot” Evans, who’s also looking to add a big name to his unblemished resume.
ShoBox tonight from Miami, Okla. features touted South African super middleweight prospect Thomas Oosthuizen against the once-beaten Marcus Johnson of Houston. Johnson’s lone loss came against Dyah Davis last year, but he’s shown enough power to make this an intriguing matchup of punchers. Puerto Rican featherweight prospect Luis Orlando Del Valle will take San Diego’s Chris Martin in the co-feature. Martin is coming off a draw with Teon Kennedy and an upset loss to veteran Jose Angel Beranza, so he should be fighting with a touch of desperation.
A second Atlantic City card scheduled for tonight features light heavyweights Yusuf Mack and Omar Sheika in the headliner…Telefutura tomorrow night features lightweights Fidel Maldonado Jr. and Fernando Carcamo…Roman Gonzalez defends his WBA 130-lb trinket against Ramon Garcia tomorrow night on Azteca America. Wale Omotoso is the chief support…Monroe, Michigan middleweight Bronco McKart fights for the 64th time in Toledo tomorrow night against Jose Medina…Fox Deportes has a nice doubleheader on Saturday night. Featherweight knockeador Jhonny Gonzalez defends his WBC strap against Elio Rojas in Cancun. Chief support is Juan Carlos Salgado vs Martin Honorio for Salgado’s IBF 130-lb strap…Integrated Sports will offer a PPV card on Sunday featuring unbeaten welterweight Vyacheslav Senchenko against Paulie Malignaggi from the Ukraine. We like Paulie…to get robbed.