Witherspoon

Jeremiah Witherspoon has spent a great portion of his adult life training and coaching professional and amateur men and women fighters.

Witherspoon, who is the head coach at the Sporching Boxing Club at 2927 Beale Ave., will be taking fighters to two different events this month.

On Saturday, professional women’s fighter Lauren Michaels and amateur men’s fighter Edgar Diossa will represent the Sporching club in the Rumble by the River 3 event that will be held at downtown Johnstown’s Frank Pasquerilla Conference Center.

Later this month, on Saturday, June 27, Diossa will be one of 10 area amateur fighters who will be competing in what is called the Clash on the Rail boxing show that will be held at the Sporching club.

Michaels, 36, has been training under the direction of Witherspoon for the past seven years and won a Pennsylvania Golden Gloves championship in the Featherweight Division (126 pounds) in 2022 in the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby, Pa. She became a professional fighter shortly after winning the state title, and continues to compete in the Featherweight Division.

Michaels will oppose Pittsburgh’s Colleen Davis in Saturday’s fight. Michaels lost a split decision verdict to Davis two years ago in Pittsburgh, but Michaels feels confident that she can do much better in Saturday’s rematch.

“I feel like I have done enough (in preparation) to win this rematch,” said Michaels, a lifelong Altoona resident who trains five to seven days a week at the Sporching club. “I know my opponent and I know how she fights so my plan is to change the tide this time and beat her.”

Diossa, 44, a New Jersey native who has lived in Altoona for the past 13 years, will compete against a heretofore unknown opponent in the Master Class Heavyweight Division.

“I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am at, and my goal in this fight is to keep my composure, work on my technique and go about things with a systematic game plan,” Diossa said. “I’m just happy to have the opportunity to do something with the self-discipline that I’ve been using to work and train for this competition.”

Both fighters said they rose above difficult backgrounds that were fraught with plenty of personal obstacles to get to where they are today with Witherspoon’s help and guidance.

“He’s an amazing coach,” Michaels said of Witherspoon. “He’s been awesome, and when I say that he saved my life, I’m not exaggerating. He really did help me to get into a better space, not just with boxing but with life in general.

“I had been going through some rough times previously and not making the best decisions for my future,” Michaels said. “I knew that I needed to find something to get back on the right track and boxing turned out to be it.”

Diossa has traveled a similar path.

“I had some really rough times growing up, and I found boxing to be a great escape,” Diossa said. “I’ve developed to become better at what I do now, and this is where I am now.

“Life is not easy, but at the end of the day, there is no other way to go about life but to push forward and to do whatever it takes,” Diossa said.

Witherspoon said that both Michaels and Diossa have paid their dues.

“They’re both great workers who are very resilient,” Witherspoon said. “They’ve both developed skills to help them succeed not only in boxing, but in life in general.”

The amateur men’s fights are four rounds of two minutes each, while the women’s fights are six rounds of two minutes each.

Tickets for Saturday’s Johnstown event can be purchased online at Rumble by the River 3 on the Eventbrite website (www.eventbrite.com).

The amateur event in Altoona at this month’s end will involve boxers from both genders and at various ages.

“There will be amateur fighters there from in and out of the state,” Witherspoon said. “We’re encouraging and inviting everybody to come to our club that day to watch it.”