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 Savarese Whacks Witherspoon in 5By Doug Fischer (September 22, 2002)  Send this page to friend Give us your feedback After his back-to-back losses to George Foreman and David Izon in '97, a philosophical Lou Savarese said that heavyweights are always one win away from another big fight and that he would be back. Those words held true for Savarese back in '98 when he took out Buster Douglas in one round to earn paydays against Michael Grant and Mike Tyson and it held true for him last night when he stopped another former heavyweight champ, Tim Witherspoon, at the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California to once again become a player in boxing's glamour division. Savarese, now 43-4 (35), survived a monster roundhouse right from Witherspoon in the first round and came back to repeatedly stun and back up the former WBA and WBC titlist over the next three rounds. Savarese dropped Witherspoon, now 55-12-1 (38), in the middle of the fifth round with a short right to the temple, and then forced 44-year-old veteran to the ropes and swarmed him with punches until referee Jon Schorle stepped in and waved the bout off 2 minutes and 47 seconds into the round. Savarese picked up the WBO intercontinental title with the win - his fourth win since his one-round destruction at the hands of Tyson in 2000 - but, more importantly, he may have angled himself into another big payday versus one of the Klitschko brothers. At least that is what Savarese and promoter Dan Goossen hope. They may get their wish as Jameel McCline recently pulled out of a proposed match with WBO champ Wladimir Klitschko because his purse demand of $1.5 million was not met by Klitschkos' promoters or HBO, which would have televised the bout sometime in December. Savarese would probably jump at the opportunity to take on one of the Ukrainian giants for a cool million. But could he take thier punching power? Maybe. He survived the best punch of Witherspoon, who even at his advanced age is no slouch in the punching power department. "I'm not a big fan of the Klitschkos," Savarese said after the fight. "I know they are pretty good technicians, but I think my heart would see me through their technique." His heart, technique and conditioning saw him through Witherspoon. After absorbing a head-twisting right cross in the first round, Savarese stepped up the heat with straight jabs and right hands followed by crisp rights to Witherspoon's fleshy mid section. By the end of the second round, Savarese was backing up the man who gave Larry Holmes fits nearly 20 years ago. Savarese continued to land the better combinations in the third and fourth rounds despite Witherspoon's Archie Moore-like crossed-arm defense. That old-school stuff worked for George Foreman when Savarese was still an untested prospect, but Big Lou (37 years old) is no spring chicken these days. He's seen all the tricks and knows how to counter them. "Conditioning was the key to everything," said Savarese, who out-worked Witherspoon throughout the fight especially when the former champ laid against the ropes. "That's why I was able to take that right hand. I worked like an animal for four months coming into this bout. This was a make or break fight for me." Savarese made it to at least one more high-profile fight. In the co-featured bout of the Goossen Tutor promotion that was televised (in the U.S.) on Fox Sports Net, hardnosed veteran Ricardo Vargas retained his NABF bantamweight title with a hard-fought 12-round decision over Trinidad Mendoza. Vargas, who started fast and consistantly worked the body of his younger, taller opponnet, won by unanimous scores of 117-111, 118-110 and 116-111. The early aggression and experience of Vargas, now 33-9-3 (11), was the difference in a competitive match. Mendoza, who had only fought once in the past year, relied too much on his jab and lateral movement in the opening rounds which allowed the older man to punish him along the ropes. Mendoza, now 19-4-2 (14), stepped it up in the middle rounds by standing his ground and sitting on his punches more, but the accurate combination punching and elusive bobbing and weaving from Vargas still gave the younger man fits. Vargas, who was competitive with former title holders Johnny Tapia, Jorge Julio and Enrique Sanchez in the '90s, is working hard to earn one more title shot at 118 pounds. Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums For Questions or Comments E-Mail Doug Fischer at dougie@maxboxing.com Doug Fischer's Archives - Click Here |
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