Boxing Ringside Report: Chazz Witherspoon vs. Livin Castillo

© Robert Brizel / Saddo Boxing

Saturday, August 28 at Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino, Chazz Witherspoon, nephew of former world heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon, outlasted a game but poorly conditioned Livin ‘La Maquina’ Castillo by stopping him in the seventh round of a scheduled ten rounder.

This was the first ever card for Spartan Fight Promotions. Spartan President and CEO Michael Brestle, who promoted four cards before Spartan was formed, had this fight card televised on Gofightlive.tv. Spartan’s next card in Atlantic City will be November 13.

The bout was won on conditioning, not superior boxing skill, and had no chance of going the distance. Castillo, now 16-9 (10), fighting out of Atlantic City, took this bout on three weeks notice. Much like his fight with Travis Kauffman last year, Castillo was not did not seem prepared for this clash, and opted to take his chances.

If this were a six round bout, Castillo would have won the decision. Castillo, coming off an eight round decision win over Jaime Quinionez last October over eight rounds in his native Ecuador, made Witherspoon look bad for four rounds.

Witherspoon’s game plan seemed to be to stick around until Castillo ran out of gas. Witherspoon appeared in shape, but despite all of the prefight opening accolades about his amateur career, never really tried to win this bout and never threw his right hand.

Castillo knew he was not in shape to go ten rounds, given his late decision to take this bout, but he knew he had superior boxing skill. Castillo attempted to use it right away and establish dominance, which he did.

Castillo failed to demonstrate enough superiority to get Witherspoon out, but he did well enough to raise big questions. Mixing left hand jabs and body shots, Castillo won the first three rounds easily, and Witherspoon didn’t touch him. In the fourth round, both men engaged in a war in center ring for foot position.

Castillo was still landing many left jabs, though he was not successful at cutting off the ring. The round appeared even, as Witherspoon began backing up Castillo, putting pressure on him with power shots, though Castillo appeared undisturbed by punches.

In the fifth, Castillo appeared to showboat somewhat. That was a mistake because the bout began to turn when some of his jabs began to miss or fall short, though he threw a lot of them.

Witherspoon began to jab with both hands and score, but very patiently and cautiously. The round appeared very close, perhaps even for Witherspoon.

Witherspoon won the sixth round with short but accurate left jabs. Castillo went down, ruled a slip, not a knockdown. Castillo began to look tired, and now all of his punches missed or fell short.

In the seventh, a defenseless Castillo ran out of gas and was knocked down. He desperately tried to hold on for dear life, but Witherspoon came forward aggressively and trapped him in a corner with flurries until the referee stopped the bout. Witherspoon improves to 27-2 (19).

Castillo’s corner man seemed to take a note of pride after the bout about his fighter’s performance. “We made an amateur star look bad. He ran out of gasoline. He only had three weeks notice for this bout.”

In summary, there was no excuse for either fighter’s subpar performance as both were capable of better. Witherspoon never looked intense or hungry in this bout, though it can be said he had a definite game plan and stuck to it calmly.

Result: Chazz Witherspoon TKO7 Livin Castillo, time 2:21.

In a six rounder, Walter Estrada, a Columbian lightweight out of Miami, Florida, scored a split decision upset over Jose Reyes of Vineland, New Jersey. Estrada, 37-13-1 (25), had height and reach advantage, and it became clear from the opening bell that he came to win.

Reyes got hit with a left hook, lost his balance, and went down in the first. Estrada resorted to jabbing and holding to win rounds one and three, with Reyes desperately trying to counter on the inside in center ring.

Both fighters traded power shot bombs in center ring in the fourth with no defense. Reyes won the round by landing more often, and Estrada was bleeding profusely from a cut on the bridge of the nose from a straight right which did not affect his vision.

In the sixth and final round, Estrada landed a powerful overhand left that swelled and nearly closed the left eye of Reyes, staggering him. Still, the bout was somewhat close, factoring in the judges could be affected by Estrada’s bloody nose cut.

Result: Walter Estrada Win Split Decision 6 Jose Reyes, by scores of 58-55 and 57-56 Estrada, 57-56 Reyes. Reyes falls to 23-8 (8).

In a Super Middleweight bout, Philadelphia fighter Farah ‘Quiet Storm’ Ennis scored a third round knockout of Reggie Pena of Ocala, Florida. Pena tried to manhandle and push Ennis around the ring. Ennis patiently worked the left hand jab and landed consistently, while landing some heavy left hand leads and body shots.

Pena tried manhandling Ennis on the ropes. By round three, the bully’s lack of technical skill left him unable to land any counterpunch attempts, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

A right hook to the body by Ennis ended Pena’s night and sent him crashing to the canvas clutching his stomach. Ennis improves to 16-0 (10) while Pena drops to 6-4 (1).

Result: Farah Ennis KO 3 Reggie Pena, at 1:56 of the round.

In the opening bout, super middleweight Eugene Soto survived a tremendous scare and two early first round knockdowns to win a majority decision over Maurice Williams.

Williams began landing overhand right power shots on Soto. One of them dropped Soto, though the second knockdown appeared to be more of a slip when Soto lost his balance.

Soto, the shorter opponent, seemed to punch himself out, and did little more than hang on to survive the next three rounds. Still the bout, should have been a draw, considering the first round was a 10-7 for Williams, and the next three 10-9 for Soto.

Williams screamed in the ring after the bout “I won! Couldn’t the judges see the two knockdowns? How could this happen?”

Result: Eugene Soto Win Majority Decision 4 Maurice Williams by scores of 37-37, 38-37 and 38-36 Soto.

Super Middleweight Isiah Seldon, of Atlantic City, with his trainer and father former world heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon working his corner, scored his first knockout by finishing Jason Johns of Danville, Virginia.

The bout began with both fighters jabbing while feeling each other out, moving in circles around the ring. Seldon, now 2-0, closed the brief bout with a thunderous overhand right to the head which put Johns on his back, down and out in a corner, forcing an immediate end to the contest.

Result: Isiah Seldon TKO 1 Jason Johns, at 1:57.

© Robert Brizel / Saddo Boxing