[5] Witherspoon came to the fight after a streak of 8 wins (6 by knockout) since his loss to Mitchell, having defeated Tyyab Beale, Cory Phelps, Galen Brown, Nick Guivas, Michael Marrone, Carlos Sandoval, Lamont Capers and Santander Silgado.
[7] He attended Paulsboro High School, where he played basketball and[8] graduated with a 4.0 GPA and as a member of the National Honor Society.
[4] Witherspoon's cousin Tim later introduced him to experienced boxing trainers Randy and Wade Hinnant, and both assisted and encouraged his development in the sport.
Three months after that he won the Middle Atlantic Regional Tournament, qualifying him for the U.S. Championships and in the process was awarded the title of “Most Outstanding Boxer”.
Before the fight, Lou DiBella stated: "The winner [of Witherspoon vs Arreola] is clearly going to be the guy [who emerges as a top heavyweight contender]".
The winner will emerge as the better of the two and immediately goes on the short list of U.S. contenders who could be in line to get a crack at one of the world titles in the relatively near future".
[3] On June 21, 2008, Witherspoon lost the fight against fellow heavyweight prospect Chris Arreola in which he was disqualified in the third round.
[10][11] Witherspoon next had a winning streak of 8 victories (six by knockout), overcoming Tyyab Beale, Cory Phelps, Galen Brown, Nick Guivas, Michael Marrone, Carlos Sandoval, Lamont Capers and Santander Silgado.
Usyk had been set to debut in the heavyweight division on October 12, 2019, at the Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, against Tyrone Spong.