Avious Griffin Inspired By Stablemate Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, Aims To Continue Knockout Ways
Avious Griffin grew up fighting on the streets of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Now training alongside RING welterweight champ Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, Griffin hopes to continue finding success in the boxing ring.
Griffin will face Lesther Espino tonight at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Griffin-Espino fight will precede the main event bout between featherweights John Leandro and Frank Gonzalez.
Both fights will stream live on BoxingInsider.com and on the Boxing Insider Twitter account (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).
The 30-year-old Griffin (13-0, 12 knockouts) last fought on July 22, knocking out gatekeeper Jonathan Eniz at the end of the second round. The Griffin of today was a far cry from the 15-year-old version who excelled on the football field as wide receiver at East Ridge High School in suburban Chattanooga. Even in his preteens and high school years, Griffin would get involved in street fights, where oftentimes, he would get the better of his advisory.
“I’m kind of like a natural hitter,” Griffin told The Ring Tuesday evening. “I’ve been a puncher for a long time. I used to street fight a lot when I was younger. It was until I was in the amateurs, and I began to sit down on my punches. I grew up with three older brothers, who were bullies. No one in my family boxed. I just had to become stronger and be a fighter.
“No one was really a boxing fan in my family. I just remembered my dad ordering a few pay-per-view cards in 2016 with Floyd Mayweather, and before that Roy Jones, Jr. against Antonio Tarver. That was it as far as boxing in my family, but I loved it and I wanted to do more.”
After being accepted to play college football at Pikesville State University in Kentucky, a knee injury sidelined Griffin early on. Griffin decided to delve into boxing, turning pro in June 2016 at the age of 22.
Griffin recently began working with trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, who trains Ring Magazine and unified world welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford in Omaha, Nebraska. Crawford will be moving up in weight to challenge newly-crowned Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles.
Over the last several weeks, Griffin has had a first-hand look as to what makes Crawford a phenomenal talent. It has allowed him to get to know The Ring’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter on a personal level.
“It’s both an honor and a blessing to be trained by ‘BoMac’ and to work alongside Terence,” said Griffin, who is managed by Brandon Stump. “In the gym, I pay attention to him. I watch him spar a lot. He will talk and joke and talk to the other fighters, but when it comes to work, he works very hard. What stands out about Terence is that he is always on the bags. He owns each bag he works with.
“On a personal level, we do strength and conditioning work together. He’s a really cool guy. He’s a family man. He tends to his family and he watches his kids when they do combat sports. We talk a few times and I just soak up everything he says.”
Tonight will be Griffin’s first fight of 2024. He fought four times in 2022 and twice in 2023.
Griffin hopes to fight often this year in order to get more momentum behind his career. He is confident the amount of work he has put in with McIntyre has allowed him to become a more well-rounded fighter, but he understands that knockouts sell in this business.
“People love to see knockouts,” said Griffin. “I think I’m sort of like a Mike Tyson and a Deontay Wilder. I know we have about the same knockout ratio.
“I feel like a little kid with the amount of knowledge and education I’m getting from ‘BoMac.’ It’s not that I was doing things wrong before. I’ve always had the right mindset that there’s always room for improvement. Since coming to Omaha, I’ve caught on and I understand things much more. ‘BoMac’ is great. He also works with Troy Isley and Keyshawn Davis. We all put in work together.”
Espino (8-5, 6 KOs), who resides in Managua, Nicaragua, stopped Israel Lopez in his last bout on March 16. The 33-year-old fought nine times in 2023, with eight of those fights taking place in the United Kingdom, where he accumulated a 4-4 record.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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