by David P. Greisman

For one round, it didn’t look like Seth Mitchell’s post-fight press conference would be a celebratory one. But he came back from a Chazz Witherspoon onslaught, battling back to score a third-round technical knockout and bring his record to 25-0-1 with 19 knockouts.

Here are highlights from the 29-year-old heavyweight prospect’s talk with reporters afterward.

ON THE WITHERSPOON WIN ITSELF:

Mitchell: “I knew Chazz was going to come out and fight. I respected him. I thought he was a well-rounded fighter, and I knew he comes to fight each and every fight. … This was my first time fighting for a belt, so I’m extremely happy now, extremely proud of the way performed. My trainer, Andre Hunter, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention him. He spent the most hours with me in the gym, day and night. We worked on that left hook all through camp. He said he was mad at me because I didn’t follow up with the right hand, which I was supposed to do.”

ON WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST ROUND:

“His jab wasn’t a real powerful jab, it was just a pestering jab. I thought I was out of range. I stayed at the end of his jab to let him get on track. You say when you allow somebody to set up their lead hand, then their power hand is always there for the kill. He hit me with the right hand and it wasn’t an equilibrium shot, but I did the stinky leg a little bit.

“I was able to recover. I’m not too proud not to hold on. I’m not going to be stupid and stand there and fight when you’re a little dazed. He saw that he hurt me and came in for the kill, and I just grabbed him, weathered the storm, and I knew that once I got out of the first round that I could make the adjustments.”

ON HIS BODY ATTACK:

“That definitely was a part of the game plan. They say if you kill the body, the head will follow. Even in the first round, I fought him with some good, straight rights to the body. That was part of the game plan, was not to get away from the body shots. I believe that slowed him down. I knew that Chazz could box, but I also knew that once he got into a firefight he was open for a lot of shots. I was dodging and weaving when he was letting his hands go, and I came back with the left hook. That’s the thing that we looked at and studied on tape and it just worked out perfectly tonight.”

ON WHETHER THE STOPPAGE SURPRISED HIM:

“I don’t know. I knew he was hurt. I just went to the corner. I was confident I was going to finish him that round or the next round, because I caught him with some good power, and I saw the look in his eyes that my power was affecting him.”

ON IF THIS MAKES HIM A BETTER FIGHTER:

“I definitely think it’s better for me. I knew it had it in me, the dog that hadn’t been brought out of me, but I’m built for that. If I get knocked down, if I can get up, I’m going to get up. Some fighters, they get knocked down and they have some quit in them. I have no ounce of quit in me. I’m not saying I can’t lose, but if I can get up, with every fiber in my body I’m going to fight. So when you come see Seth Mitchell fight, win, lose or draw it’s going to be a fight.”

ON WHAT WAS SAID AFTER THE FIRST ROUND:

Trainer Andre Hunter: “After the first round, I basically told him to grab him, tie him up, get out of range again. I wasn’t worried about him trying to get it back soon, because I knew we had a long fight, and I told him sooner or later he would run into your shots.”

ON MITCHELL’S MINDSET FOR COMING BACK:

Mitchell: “I knew I couldn’t let him get me with the jab like he did the first round. I had no cobwebs or anything after I got out of the first round. My head was clear, so I just had to go out there, dictate with my jab, not let him be the leader, attack the body. Once I did that everything started to fall in place. My main concern was to not let him get the jab on track, because it was just a fly in the face, I couldn’t get it out of my face. […]

“In the first round, he clearly dictated the pace of the fight. He dictated everything. I definitely was off track. But I got myself together, and I came out, and I felt I dictated the fight. My body shots, I really saw him slowing down. I guess that allowed him to stand there and trade with me, which I want. Coming into the fight, I knew he could box and I knew he could move and had an excellent jab, so I wanted to get into exchanges with him. My trainer told me to stay calm under the storm. That’s what I did, and it worked out.

ON THE KNOCKDOWN IN THE THIRD:

“He was throwing a variety of punches. I was bobbing and weaving, and I came up with the left hook. One shot. My trainer always said it’s good with me, because I have that eraser. I could be losing a fight, but if I catch a fighter flush, you know I can change a fight just like that. That’s what happened.”

ON THE FUTURE:

“I’ve said numerous times, you never hear ‘America’s Hope’ come out of my mouth. I just continue to work hard and try to do the best that I can, but I believe in myself, and I believe I have the tools to become the heavyweight champion of the world.”

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter at twitter.com/fightingwords2 or on Facebook at facebook.com/fightingwordsboxing, or send questions and comments to fightingwords1@gmail.com