The money was there before us, after us, but not for us.” It was a shame for the fighters back then because I think we were some of America’s best up-and-coming heavyweights. was supposed to be the next guy to get the title, but even though I came out on top, I couldn’t enjoy the win, because the person who was running the show was taking the money. We both had mental problems because of the contract negotiations, and we were both angry. I wanted the title, so I just kept pushing and got the victory, but I wasn’t really happy with that particular fight. Most Don King fighters would have disagreements about money and very few didn’t. How can we train for a heavyweight championship fight when things aren’t in order? It was the financials. “I was excited about the fight, but both of us had the same problem and that was the promoter (Don King). Greg Page Date/ Venue: March 9, 1984/ Convention Center, Las Vegas Titles: Vacant WBC heavyweight Photo from The Ring archive/ Getty Images Witherspoon (left) picks up his first title belt at the expense of Greg Page. He was a good fighter and went 10 rounds with Tyson after that.” I used leverage, delivered the punches properly and they landed right on the chin. There was a three-knockdown rule, I knocked him down three times, and I hurt him. That’s why I approached him the way I did. I anticipated some good boxing from him, but he’d said things that made me angry and aggressive. I said ‘OK, wait until next time!’ I trained real hard, I was chopping wood, and I was boxing real well. Later on, I’m in an elevator with Tillis and he says that I’m scared to fight him and that I’m a punk. I was showing him how to throw a left hook, and when I was talking to him, he threw a left hook and broke my jaw. I was messing around in sparring with a light heavyweight named “Lightning” Bob Smith. “I was going to fight ‘Quick’ Tillis the year before, but I got my jaw broken. James Tillis Date/ Venue: September 23, 1983/ Richfield Coliseum, Richfield Titles: Non-title bout I wasn’t going to let him get the best of me and he didn’t.” I wasn’t going to let Larry Holmes scare me because he had more experience. I’m the real two-time heavyweight champ from Philly. I’m from 7th Street in South Philly, down near the Italian market where Sylvester Stallone shot his movie, Rocky. But I was also really confident because of where I came from. Everyone was happy for me when I was training for the Larry Holmes fight. I was friends with Dokes, Spinks, David Bey, Mitch Green, Azumah Nelson … we were all in the same camp together. Actually, the first thing I said to my trainer was, ‘Slim, don’t you think it’s a little too soon?’ He said, ‘Tim, we’re gonna kick his ass!’ That’s what gave me the confidence, and we started training really hard. At first, I doubted that I could win when Don King told us to take the fight. Larry Holmes Date Venue: May 20, 1983/ Dunes Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas Titles: Ring Magazine/ WBC heavyweight Witherspoon (right) pressures Larry Holmes. The two-time titleholder insists that he was so disenchanted with the business side of the sport that he actually “threw” the Smith rematch, but while his career continued, the glory days were over. He would overcome a close decision loss to Pinklon Thomas in August 1984, but a rematch with the aforementioned Smith ended in a first-round defeat and sent Witherspoon’s career into a tailspin in late ’86. Constant financial battles with promoter Don King led to a lack of motivation, inconsistent form and disappointing results. Witherspoon bounced back quickly, and over the next three years claimed wins over James Tillis, Greg Page (won vacant WBC title), James “Bonecrusher” Smith, Tony Tubbs (won WBA title) and Frank Bruno.īut while his success inside the ring was undeniable, there were big problems outside of it, and the resulting negativity unfairly plagues Witherspoon’s impact. He fought brilliantly that night, hurting the great champion badly in what was later named The Ring Magazine Round of the Year (9). With virtually no amateur career to speak of and only 15 professional fights, Witherspoon pushed a prime Larry Holmes (42-0) to the limit in May 1983, and the split decision defeat – his first setback – could easily have gone the other way. This statistic alone should be enough to turn heads, but Witherspoon’s overall resume and craft are very underrated. The gifted boxer-puncher from South Philadelphia became only the third man in boxing history to regain a heavyweight title (Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali preceded him), accomplishing that feat in the mid-1980s. There are two very different sides to the Tim Witherspoon story.
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