6/22/08Berto Claims First Title! TKO's Rodriguez!
Arreola Unofficially KO's Witherspoon! Wins by DQ!
Fireworks From the FedExForum in Memphis, TN! Photo Gallery Coming Soon!
By Michael Sheffield, Memphisboxing.com


Welterweight Andre Berto (22-0, 19 KOs) stopped Miguel “Mikki” Rodriguez (29-3, 23 KOs) in round seven to claim the newly vacated WBC Welterweight Championship. Photo By: JD Meredith

The evening’s main event, the WBC Welterweight Championship between Andre Berto (21-0 18 KOs) and Miguel Angel Rodriguez (29-2 23 KOs) possessed everything necessary for a top shelf main event: action, speed, power and a willingness to fight between both participants.

Berto, who is gaining a reputation for his knockout power threw everything he could at the taller and noticeably slower Rodriguez for the first four rounds. Berto also was able to nullify Rodriguez’s height advantage, driving in and keeping the action at close quarters. Rodriguez was able to land a few quality shots late in what would go 7 of the scheduled 12 rounds. Those shots kept Berto honest, but his power was on display for much of the fight, causing even Rodriguez to be awed by a fierce right uppercut that also scored the first knockdown of the fight. Rodriguez was able to get up from that shot before being brought to a knee by another Berto shot. Berto landed a hook after Rodriguez took the knee, but the fighter didn’t complain. He just got up, tried to fight his way through the Berto rally and then took the TKO at 2:13 of the seventh round, giving the 24-year old Andre Berto his first world championship.

Berto, who was initially to be fighting for the chance to take on Welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., said actually winning one of the titles Mayweather vacated with his retirement last week was “the best feeling in the world”. He also promised to keep the division interesting.

“ I’ll take on all comers in the welterweight division,” he said.
Berto also gave credit to Rodriguez.

“ Miki is a very tough opponent and from start to finish, it was an outstanding fight,” he said. “I’m glad I faced the tough opposition.”

An evening that featured gutsy, crowd-pleasing performances from the principals in the two nationally televised main events was momentarily derailed by a needless controversy.


Chris Areloa (24-0, 23 KOs) defeated Chazz Witherspoon (23-1, 15 KOs) by third round disqualification at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo By: JD Meredith

In what was widely believed to be a knockout at the end of the third round, heavyweight Chazz Witherspoon (23-0, 15 KOs) was disqualified by referee Kevin Phillips after his corner entered the ring before Phillips finished his standing 8-count. Witherspoon was on his feet officially, but was on his back mentally and probably emotionally as well after absorbing three rounds of brutal punches from the aptly named Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (23-0 21 KOs).

Witherspoon tried to match Arreola’s aggressiveness early, and both fighters lived up to their active reputations throwing punches early and often. However, Witherspoon had no answer for Arreola’s brutal power and willingness to use that power to his advantage.

Arreola scored a knockdown in the second round that might have stopped any other opponent, but the courageous Witherspoon got up from the canvas, only to absorb more punishment that ended at the bell, and ended with Witherspoon face-down on the canvas.

After falling back down while trying to get up, the wobbly Witherspoon finally got to his feet just as his corner had climbed to the ring apron. Arreola, Witherspoon’s corner and referee Phillips seemed almost as dazed as Witherspoon as his corner man was allowed to gather him to the corner. Halfway through the break, Phillips called the fight and the crowd believed Arreola had scored the knockout. It wasn’t until ring announcer Michael Buffer announced the disqualification that the crowd found out the official ruling.

In a post-fight interview with HBO analyst Max Kellerman, Phillips said he wouldn’t have stopped the fight Witherspoon’s corner hadn’t intervened.

Arreola’s reputation as an active power puncher was well represented in the fight, with the fighter landing 48 power shots in the third round alone and a whopping 185 total punches for the fight according to Punch Stat.

Witherspoon, possibly still feeling the effects of the beating he had taken said he felt he recovered quickly from the first knockdown. He was, however gracious in defeat.

“ It was my own stupidity that beat me in the ring today,” Witherspoon said.

Arreola, was already making plans for his next fight, while also giving Witherspoon his due.

“ He’s a warrior and a great fighter,” Arreola said. “(As for me) I’ll fight anybody anytime.”

HBO’s Boxing after Dark was preceded by an entertaining undercard at FedExForum Saturday that resulted in one undefeated fighter losing for the first time and another undefeated fighter returning to form.

Rayonta "Stingray" Whitfield over powered Wilfredo Valdez and won their fight by RD4 TKO.
Photo By: JD Meredith

After a string of unimpressive recent performances, undefeated Rayonta Whitfield regained his form against Wilfredo Valdez. Whitfield scored one knockdown per round over the first three rounds of the scheduled 8-round bout. Whitfield’s performance didn’t lack controversy as his first knockdown of the 4th round came on a debatable low blow. Valdez milked the recovery time for all it was worth despite the crowd’s vocal disagreement with whether or not the blow actually low. Whitfield proceeded to knock Valdez down three times in the 4th, scoring a TKO at the end of the round.

In the first fight of the night, undefeated Ira Terry (19-0, 10 KOs) tasted his first defeat at the hands of Tuscaloosa-native Michael Williams (3-5, 3KOs) in a 4-round junior lightweight bout. Williams outfought his record and crowd-favorite Terry scoring a knockdown in the second round that could have been mistaken for a slip. However, a straight right hand in the third round was a definitive knockdown. Terry took standing eight counts both times, but couldn’t find an answer for Williams.

Terry, who seemed preoccupied or uninterested during the fight, attempted to rally early in the final round, but apparently couldn’t handle Williams, who was the more aggressive of the two throughout the fight. The judges agreed, scoring the fight 39-37, 38-35, 39-36 for Williams.

The second fight had flashes of action, but more lulls than necessary between heavyweights, Evans Quinn (15-2, 14 KOs) and Andrew Greeley (14-20, 8 KOs). Despite knocking Greeley down at end of the second round, Quinn fought too cautiously against his counter-punching opponent, who scrapped that style in the third round for a crowd-pleasing, but technically deficient brawl that took Quinn out of his game plan for the duration of the round.

Greeley was able to frustrate Quinn with his bulldogging style and top-notch defense, but wasn’t able to do anything to steal or win any rounds outright. The judges gave the unanimous decision to Quinn with a score of 77-74, 79-72, 78-73.

Promising newcomer Farah Ennis (4-0, 3 KOs) kept his undefeated record alive with a dominating performance over Scott Sigmond (1-0, 1 KO), who ended up with more than he could handle in his second professional fight. The fight had the action lacking in the previous fight, but Ennis pretty much did any and everything he wanted over the fight’s four rounds, taking a unanimous decision 40-36 on all three of the judges’ scorecards.

The first knockout of the night came during a 4-round match up of super middleweights Jonathan Nelson (3-0, 2KOs) and Vincent Robbins (3-4-2, 3 KOs). Nelson made short work of Robbins, crushing him in his corner with two perfect rights to the chin that left little to chance at 2:10 in the first round.

Undefeated rising star and knockout artist, Fernando Guerrero (7-0 7 KOs) utterly destroyed Omid Bahreini (2-2, 2KOs) in 2:10 of the first round. Guerrero was put off for a very short period at Bahreini’s bullying style right at the opening bell, but as soon as he settled in, he ended the fight in what amounted to two punches, one right, which put Bahreini on a knee and another perfect right to the nose that put him on his back. Guerrero’s performance earned a thumbs up and a post fight fist bump from HBO boxing analyst and former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

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