Once charged with murder, he is undefeated and on the rise as he fights Saturday night in Atlantic City.
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Avious Griffin one day he may be knocked down in the boxing ring, but he probably won't sit down, because that is nothing compared to what he has faced in the arena of “real life.” You'd have to go a long way to find another pro fighter who was arrested for wrongful death and had to come back from that.
Now there's a continuing success story, and it will continue on Saturday as the Chattanooga, TN native takes on Nicaragua's Lesther Espino in an eight-round welterweight bout. It is part of the May 11 show on the Boardwalk, as Larry Goldberg's Boxing Insider promotions brings pro boxing back to Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City after disappearing for seven years.
Griffin had around 160 trials, competing against the best at the national level, doing this under the watchful eye of his father Alvin, who introduced him to the sport at the age of eight.
The two were inseparable, and had planned to climb the ladder together. But fate threw Griffin a curveball. Three weeks before the start of his first game, a blood vessel burst in Alvin's brain, and Avious rushed him to the hospital, where he died in the back seat.
Avious felt that his father would want him to go through that battle, so he did. That was in June 2016, and in the first 13 months of his professional career, he registered four strikeouts in a total of seven innings.
Then the end came again. There was a homicide investigation in Chattanooga, and an acquaintance of Griffin's used his name in connection with the case. That led to Griffin's arrest and conviction, and he ended up in prison for eleven months. It was difficult because people turned their backs on him, but he had to believe in himself. In his words, “I had to rebuild myself from scratch. It was like kindergarten again.”
As he served time in prison, some of the other people involved in the crime admitted that Griffin had nothing to do with it, and the process that followed led to his release.
After getting his freedom, he went to Floyd Mayweather's gym in Las Vegas, and went to work. His first fight in almost four years took place in May 2021 as he stopped Jair Garza in the first round.
Since then, he has never stopped her.
In thirteen fights, only one opponent – Marcelo Bzowski – managed to go the distance with him. That was in February of 2022. In his last fight, which was back in July, he scored a second round KO over veteran Jonathan Jose Eniz. He was supposed to fight last November in Costa Rica, but missed out due to injury.
Griffin is no stranger to Atlantic City, having fought there twice. On Saturday (May 11), he is expected to face Espino, a native of Nicaragua who is 8-5 with six KOs. Four of Espino's five losses have come at the hands of undefeated players.
In the meantime ranked 7th by the United States Boxing Association (USBA), Griffin targets anyone ranked ahead of him. And he doesn't care too much about obstacles in his way.
“Many people cannot withstand the blows I have dealt and get up and continue.”
Including the Avious Griffin fight, here's Boxing Insider Promotions' Saturday night schedule:
8 Rounds – Feathers
JOHN LEONARDO (10-1-1, 4 KO's), Manalapan Township, NJ vs. FRANK GONZALEZ (12-5, 6 KO's), Tampa, FL
8 Rounds – Welterweights
AVIOUS GRIFFIN (13-0, 12 KO's), Chattanooga, TN vs. LESHER ESPINO (8-5, 6 KO's), Nicaragua
6 Rounds – Junior Middleweights
JUSTIN FIGUEROA (8-0, 6 KO's), Atlantic City, NJ vs. ANTONIO ARMAS (13-7, 8 KO's), Venezuela
6 Rounds – Juniorweights Middleweights
DWYKE FLEMMINGS (6-0, 6 KO's), Paterson, NJ vs. JONATHAN HAMPTON (3-4, 1 KO), Gary, IN
4 rounds – Heavy weight
PRICE TAYLOR (3-0, 2 KO's), Brooklyn, NY vs. LAWRENCE KING JR. (2-1,1 KO), Rochester, NY
4 Rounds – Middleweights
JACOB SOLIS (3-0, 3 KO's), New York, NY vs. BRANDON MARTINEZ (1-3, 1 KO), Tucson, AZ
4 rounds – Lightweights
KOBY WILLIAMS (pro debut), Brooklyn, NY vs. KEVIN HICKS (1-2, 1 KO), Taswell, WV
Tickets are priced at $60, $100, $150 and $200, and are available through TicketMaster (or at the Tropicana box office.
The event will be broadcast live and free of charge on BoxingInsider.com
www.boxinginsider.com
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