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Moultrie
Witherspoon came to Jamil Temple’s auditorium on Friday night
expecting to face journeyman Dan Sheehan.
Surprise ... Mooch, meet Jason Waller.
In a six-round bout against a man who stood toe-to-toe with one-time
heavyweight champ Shannon Briggs, Witherspoon prevailed in a
unanimous decision that was much more difficult than the paper
result.
Sheehan was a late scratch due to a suspension handed down by a
boxing commission. Waller, from Virginia, came in at the last minute
to keep the Fall Brawl II’s main event intact.
Waller entered the match with a 28-33-4 record … not flashy, but
more than adequate to prove he had staying power, considering the
names he had fought prior to Witherspoon.
“Man, he went toe-to-toe with Briggs and didn’t get knocked out,”
said Witherspoon, who improved to 12-0 and retained his CBO
heavyweight belt. “He had fought top-ranked guys, had belts and
everything and hadn’t been knocked out.”
Giving away 20 pounds and several inches to Witherspoon, Waller
quickly surmised his best hope was to crowd Witherspoon and pound
away at his midsection. Witherspoon obliged, but occasionally landed
a flurry of jabs to pin Waller against the ropes.
“You know, it all worked out. This guy was good for Moultrie,” said
Witherspoon’s manager, Billy Stanick. “I didn’t want Moultrie to
have a knockout. I wanted him to go the distance, work it out.”
The outcome was never in doubt as Witherspoon’s jabs were mostly on
target while his hooks opened a cut above Waller’s left eye.
“I went in there and got the victory,” Witherspoon said. “But … wow
… I realized quick this guy isn’t going down. But I feel good. I
covered up a lot of his shots. I didn’t really get hit a whole lot.”
The victory keeps Witherspoon on track to be the headline bout next
March if ESPN finalizes plans to put on a show at Jamil Temple.
Among those in attendance Friday night were WBO welterweight
champion Paul Williams and Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer.
Rock Hill’s Torrance Brown retained his CBO light heavyweight belt
in a rowdy bout with Columbia’s Mike Raynor. While the score was
close on each of the three judges’ cards, Brown won in a unanimous
decision after the fight went the eight-round distance.
Brown dominated the early rounds, but Rayner made his stand with
several strong late rounds. Though his punches didn’t have a lot
behind them, he landed most.
In the eight round, Brown landed a potent flurry of combos, which
ultimately made the difference.
Some of the proceeds from Friday’s events were donated to a general
fund for a fieldhouse at White Knoll High School. The donation was
made in the name of Joshua Torrence, a marine and graduate of the
school who recently was killed in action in Iraq.
In the other fights on the undercard:
-- In the night’s first bout, Micky Stackhouse knocked out White
Rock boxer Robert Dunton at the 2:41 mark of the second round.
Stackhouse softened up Dunton with solid jabs from the left before
landing three big right crosses to knock him out.
-- Josh “Night Train” Durden, trained by Williams’ trainer, George
Peterson, knocked out Jerome Fairfax 12 seconds into the second
round.
-- White Rock boxer Kenrick Watkins, a crowd favorite, dominated a
four-round bout with Rock Hill’s Darrett Crockett, earning a
unanimous decision to remain unbeaten as a professional.
-- Aiken welterweight Terry Cade scored a four-round unanimous
decision against a game Kensky Rodney. Cade, also trained by
Peterson, landed numerous right upper cuts and crosses, but Rodney
held his own. The match featured very little jabbing and had the
crowd on its feet as Williams rooted at ringside for Cade.
-- In a middleweight bout, Joel Norfleet landed blows at will
against Quashawn Anderson, earning a technical knockout after one
round.
Reach Obley at (803) 771-8473 |
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