It feels like Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey were still fighting when Oleksandr Usyk announced his move up from cruiserweight to heavyweight. The reigning “Fighter of the Year” has been inactive since beating and retiring former world champion and “Creed” villain Tony Bellew last November. Between now and Usyk’s last fight, a 54-year-old Oliver McCall has fought twice.
Are we done finding Usyk an opponent?
Finding Usyk a heavyweight dance partner has not been easy. While veterans Alexander Povetkin and Carlos Takam all swiped right on fighting the Ukrainian, both unmatched due to scheduling conflicts and injuries. Finally, Usyk was paired up with Tyrone Spong, an undefeated former kickboxer. All the drama of finding the champ an opponent was settled and the fight was on… not so fast.
Spong was popped this week for a banned substance and was pulled from the fight. Hours later, he was informed he was facing up to 60 days in jail for, get this, accidentally letting loose his pet cougar.
Stepping in for boxing’s favorite mountain lion owner will be Philly’s Chazz Witherspoon (38-3, 29 KOs). Let’s hope nothing happens between now and Saturday.
Welcome back champ
Despite the road bumps, it’s great to finally see Usyk back in action. He’s arguably making a legitimate claim as one of the best fighters in the game, cleaning out the cruiserweight division in only 15 fights. This move up to heavyweight injects new life into a division dominated by Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Deontay Wilder for the past five years. While there is no doubt Usyk is a pound-for-pound a top 10 fighter, the big question mark is how well the champ can compensate for his smaller size when tip-toeing against the division’s behemoths.
Unfortunately, this fight won’t tell much, unless Usyk struggles. While 38-year-old Witherspoon has a puncher’s chance, it seems like a hopeless mismatch given he’s had less than a week to prepare for an elite opponent. In fact, he was selling cars before his name was called this week. His biggest fight to date was on the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson card seven years ago against Seth Mitchell. Witherspoon was TKO’d. Still, he boasts an eight-fight winning streak and carries a small size advantage.
Dmitry Bivol stays busy
Oleksandr Usyk won’t be the only Eastern European star tuning up on the card. WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol is in action against Dominican boxer Lenin Castillo.
Like Usyk, Bivol isn’t expected to face a terribly difficult challenge, but he’ll have to put some pop on those punches if he wants to clock out early. The sturdy Castillo has never been KO’d before.
TALES OF THE TAPE | Dmitry Bivol
What else is on the card?
Jessica McCaskill, the top super lightweight in women’s boxing (who has an amazing backstory), will be defending her titles against Erica Farias, who she beat previously for the WBC belt.
Anthony Sims Jr., who was previously promoted by Don King before signing with Matchroom, will be in action. The 24-year-old prospect has a tremendous amateur pedigree and is undefeated. He’ll be fighting Morgan Fitch, who has lost 3 of his last 4 fights.
How to watch Usyk vs. Witherspoon
The fight will be streamed on DAZN so you know the drill, just subscribe and tune in on Saturday, October 12th starting at 9 pm EST. If you’re in Chicago, or if you’re craving some authentic deep dish and want to see the fight live, tickets are still available. It’s going down at the Wintrust Arena. Enjoy the fight!
