Tim Witherspoon (born December 27, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title in 1984, and the WBA title in 1986. He beat heavyweight world champions Greg Page, James Smith, Tony Tubbs, Frank Bruno and cruiserweight world champions Alfonzo Ratliff and Al Cole. He is famous for his fight against undefeated heavyweight world champion Larry Holmes in which he lost by split decision. Witherspoon also worked as a regular sparring partner for Muhammad Ali.
Professional career Early years Witherspoon had six amateur bouts, losing the last to Marvis Frazier on decision after getting knocked down.
Making his professional debut with a first-round TKO over Joe Adams on October 30, 1979, Witherspoon quickly rose through the ranks. In 1981, he participated in his first high-profile fight, knocking out future world cruiserweight champion Alfonzo Ratliff, after which he was signed by Don King. Witherspoon was a sparring partner of Ali as he was training to fight Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Ali also gave Witherspoon his complimentary ring alias of "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon.
In 1982, he was matched with Renaldo Snipes, who had just given champion Larry Holmes a fair challenge (and knocked Holmes down), and outpointed him over 10 rounds, setting up his own challenge to Holmes.
Witherspoon vs. Larry Holmes: WBC heavyweight title
On May 20, 1983, Witherspoon would have his first attempt at earning a world title by taking on the recognized top man in the division World Boxing Council champion Larry Holmes at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. Witherspoon gave Holmes all he could handle, including rocking him badly in the ninth round, before losing a twelve-round split decision.
He returned later in the year to outpoint Floyd "Jumbo" Cummings, who had drawn with Joe Frazier in Smokin' Joe's last fight, and win the NABF title with a first-round knockout of James "Quick" Tillis.
First title reign: WBC heavyweight champion
In December 1983, Holmes relinquished his WBC title rather than defend against Greg Page, and chose to accept that of the newly formed IBF (International Boxing Federation).
Witherspoon was matched with Page for the vacant title on March 9, 1984. Page, in constant war with promoter Don King, turned up overweight and was outpointed.
Witherspoon's reign as champion would not be long however, as soon he himself was in constant war with King, and on August 31 of that year he was outpointed by Pinklon Thomas via majority decision.
Second title reign: WBA heavyweight champion
In 1985 Witherspoon regained his NABF belt by beating James Broad in two rounds and made a successful twelve round defense against James "Bonecrusher" Smith in his first defense of the belt. This earned him another chance at a heavyweight title and he signed to fight reigning WBA champion Tony Tubbs on January 17, 1986, in Atlanta. Witherspoon won a close fight by majority decision, winning by only one point on one of the scorecards and three on another with one even, to become champion for a second time.
In his first defense of his newly won championship, Witherspoon traveled to London and fought a young up-and-coming English heavyweight and future world champion Frank Bruno at Wembley Stadium, as part of the heavyweight unification series. In the eleventh round of a scheduled fifteen, Witherspoon recorded a technical knockout and did something he had not done when he was champion the first time: make a successful defense of the title after winning it. After defeating Bruno, a rematch with Tony Tubbs loomed but Tubbs pulled out of the fight.
Needing to make a title defense, Witherspoon accepted a second fight with Bonecrusher Smith. Since dropping a lopsided decision in their first matchup (losing every round but one on all three scorecards) Smith had fought four bouts and recorded three wins, all against fringe contenders and journeymen. The fight was scheduled for December 12, 1986 at Madison Square Garden and Witherspoon a heavy favorite against the 17–5 Smith. With fifty seconds remaining in the first round, Witherspoon hit the canvas a third time and Rivera ended the proceedings. At ringside, HBO commentators Barry Tompkins, Larry Merchant, and Sugar Ray Leonard expressed disbelief at the outcome, with all three calling the bout a major upset.
Post-championship career
Following the end his second title reign, Witherspoon spent years in litigation against Don King. In 1991 won the USBA heavyweight title by defeating fellow contender Carl "The Truth" Williams but lost a points decision to Everett Martin. Ring magazine called this inexplicable loss the low point of his career.
In 1993 Don King settled out of court and paid Witherspoon a million dollars. By 1994 Witherspoon had won five fights in a row by knockout. Aged 38 he was signed by HBO and matched in high-profile fights with cruiserweight champion Al Cole and the Cuban amateur Jorge Luis González, both of whom he defeated. Later in the year he was matched with Ray Mercer but lost a 10-round decision.
After that loss Witherspoon laid off a year, and when he came back he was outpointed by Larry Donald on HBO, and, in 1998, lost a close decision when outworked by New Zealander Jimmy Thunder before travelling to Poland to be outpointed by Andrew Golota.
The 43-year-old Witherspoon resurfaced in 2001, knocking out the prospect David Bostice in one round, outpointing Cuban southpaw contender Eliecer Castillo and Syrian Ahmed Abdin, before his revival was ended by Lou Savarese, who stopped him in five rounds.
Witherspoon also competed in Cedric Kushner's 2003 Thunderbox Heavyweight Tournament, "Fistful of Dollars," but lost in the opening stages.
Boxing Style
Like other Philadelphia fighters, such as George Benton, Witherspoon was known for his use of the Philly Shell. Witherspoon would switch between the Philly Shell and the cross-armed guard depending on what punches he was defending against. Witherspoon used this defense in conjunction with rubber necking, which is turning the head to reduce the impact of punches, and effective counterpunching.
Life after boxing Witherspoon resides near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he trains boxers, including his son, lightweight Tim Witherspoon Jr. and many others. He has also trained light heavyweight champion Clinton Woods in the UK.
In 2014, Witherspoon published his book with the help of British entrepreneur Kevin Baker and ghost writer Ryan Danes.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateAgeLocationNotes69Loss Brian NixSD10Mar 15, 2003 68Loss55–12–1 Lou SavareseTKO5 (12), Sep 22, 2002 67Win55–11–1 Ahmed AbdinUD10May 18, 2002 66Win54–11–1 Darroll WilsonKO2 (10), Mar 10, 2002 65Win53–11–1 Ed WhiteTKO1, Jan 18, 2002 64Win52–11–1 Cleveland WoodsKO1 (10), Jul 29, 2001 63Loss51–11–1 Monte BarrettSD10Jun 28, 2001 62Win51–10–1 Danny WoffordTKO3 (10)Apr 13, 2001 61Win50–10–1 Elieser CastilloMD10Mar 31, 2001 60Win49–10–1 David BosticeTKO1 (10), Feb 22, 2001 59Win48–10–1 David SmithTKO2 (10), Jul 8, 2000 58Draw47–10–1 Mike Sedillo12Apr 29, 2000 57Win47–10 Joe BallardKO1Feb 25, 2000 56Loss46–10 Greg PageRTD7 (10), Jun 18, 1999 55Loss46–9 Brian NielsenTKO4 (10)Apr 16, 1999 54Loss46–8 Andrew GolotaUD10Oct 2, 1998 53Loss46–7 Jimmy ThunderUD10Apr 7, 1998 52Loss46–6 Larry DonaldUD12Dec 13, 1997 51Win46–5 Levi BillupsTKO1 (10), Nov 4, 1997 50Loss45–5 Ray MercerUD10Dec 14, 1996 49Win45–4 Jorge Luis GonzálezTKO5 (10), May 10, 1996 48Win44–4 Al ColeUD10Jan 12, 1996 47Win43–4 Tim PullerTKO2 (10), Nov 14, 1995 46Win42–4 Everton DavisTKO7 (10), Oct 31, 1995 45Win41–4 Jesse ShelbyTKO1 (10)Mar 24, 1995 44Win40–4 Nathaniel FitchTKO6 (10)Dec 17, 1994 43Win39–4 Sherman GriffinTKO3 (10), Aug 12, 1994 42Win38–4 Tony WillisUD10Aug 25, 1992 41Loss37–4 Everett MartinSD10Jul 21, 1992 40Win37–3 James PritchardUD10Mar 23, 1992 39Win36–3 Jimmy Lee SmithKO1 (10), Feb 4, 1992 38Win35–3 Art TuckerTKO3 (12), Sep 10, 1991 37Win34–3 Carl WilliamsSD12Mar 8, 1991 36Win33–3 José RibaltaMD10Jul 19, 1990 35Win32–3 Greg GorrellTKO3 (10), Mar 12, 1990 34Win31–3 Jeff Sims5 (10), Jan 11, 1990 33Win30–3 Anders EklundKO1 (10), Oct 19, 1989 32Win29–3 Larry AlexanderSD10Jan 27, 1989 31Win28–3 Mauricio VillegasTKO9 (10)Feb 17, 1988 30Win27–3 Mike WilliamsSD10Oct 14, 1987 29Win26–3 Mark WillsTKO1 (10), Aug 4, 1987 28Loss25–3 James SmithTKO1 (15), Dec 12, 1986 27Win25–2 Frank BrunoTKO11 (15), Jul 19, 1986 26Win24–2 Tony TubbsMD15Jan 17, 1986 25Win23–2 Sammy ScaffTKO4 (10), Oct 12, 1985 24Win22–2 Larry BeilfussTKO1 (10), Sep 6, 1985 23Win21–2 James SmithUD12Jun 15, 1985 22Win20–2 James BroadKO2 (12), Apr 29, 1985 21Win19–2 Mark WillsTKO9 (10), Mar 25, 1985 20Loss18–2 Pinklon ThomasMD12Aug 31, 1984 19Win18–1 Greg PageMD12Mar 9, 1984 18Win17–1 James TillisTKO1 (12), Sep 23, 1983 17Win16–1 Floyd CummingsUD10Jul 16, 1983 16Loss15–1 Larry Holmes12May 20, 1983 15Win15–0 Renaldo Snipes10Jun 5, 1982 14Win14–0 Luis AcostaKO2 (10), Mar 30, 1982 13Win13–0 Alfonzo RatliffTKO7 (10), Dec 5, 1981 12Win12–0 Curtis GaskinsKO2 (8)Nov 17, 1981 11Win11–0 Jerry WilliamsTKO8 (10)Jul 30, 1981 10Win10–0 Bobby JordanKO4 (10)Jun 17, 1981 9Win9–0 Dave JohnsonUD8Apr 11, 1981 8Win8–0 Marvin Stinson10Feb 7, 1981 7Win7–0 Ed BednarikTKO1, Jan 24, 1981 6Win6–0 James ReidTKO6 (8)Dec 11, 1980 5Win5–0 Oliver WrightTKO2 (8)Oct 24, 1980 4Win4–0 Charles CoxKO5Jul 20, 1980 3Win3–0 Robert Evans6May 9, 1980 2Win2–0 Robert Ritchie1Apr 26, 1980 1Win1–0 Joe Adams1, Oct 30, 1979
References
External links
"Terrible" Times: A Life of Tim Witherspoon at boxing.com