Chavon Davis Stillwell is following in his father’s footsteps by stepping into the ring. The only difference is that his father competed in toughman competitions, while Chavon is looking to become a boxing world cruiserweight titleholder.
Stillwell will return in an eight-round bout on Saturday at the LaCentre Conference and Banquet Facility in Westlake, Ohio.
Stillwell, 8-0 (6 KOs), of Mansfield, Ohio, started boxing at the age of 3. He entered the gym as his father, Charles Stillwell, won a national toughman contest.
“My dad was a world toughman champion,” Stillwell told BoxingScene. “He would bring me to the gym when he trained, and I fell in love with it.”
Stillwell hopes to eventually face one of the most intimidating fighters in the sport, multi-division titleholder David Benavidez, who will face unified cruiserweight belt holder Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in May.
“I want to be the cruiserweight world champion,” Stillwell, 26, said. “I want to fight David Benavidez.”
However, Stillwell admits he doesn’t like attention. That’s a tough beat in the modern landscape of boxing, which relies heavily on self-promotion. He believes that his talent and performances will bring fans in regardless of his reserved nature. So far, Stillwell is developing his record and has recorded just one notable win – an eight-round unanimous decision over Nicholas Molina last September. But he has already fought in a bout scheduled for 10 rounds, and he will be competing in the third eight-round bout of his career on Saturday.
“It really isn’t easy being a loner,” Stillwell said. “When I am in camp, I just isolate myself. … I don’t hang around a bunch of people. I just stay to myself, play [an NBA video game] and train.”
Stillwell may be following his father’s lead, but he hopes to forge his own path while balancing being an introvert in a sport built for bluster. Even if he doesn’t go out of his way to make noise, Stillwell says, he isn’t afraid of confrontation.
“I am shy until I get into the ring,” Stillwell said.
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.