Prime Tyson vs prime Whitherspoon ????

Tyson all day long

 

Witherspoon was on the cards to fight tyson,but Bonecrusher Smith beat him,and spoiled the party.

 

So Douglas could punch but only the night he beat Tyson? That makes alot of sense, Douglas was never much of a puncher and him knocking out Tyson shows how overrated Tyson's chin was.

 

There's no way Tyson kayoes a good Tim Witherspoon, but Mike has too much speed and authority for Tim to deal with.8-4 or 9-3 in a twelve round fight, 11-4 or 10-5 in a fifteen round fight, all Tyson.

 

I think picking Tyson by decision is fair.. I can't see Tim winning this fight, unless perhaps he replaced Douglas in Tokyo, but if the bout happened at a time when it would have made sense ( 1986-1987 ), he loses to a fully focussed Tyson. Extending the fight to the distance is not out of the question however.. Witherspoon was awkward, had a sturdy chin, decent size and a lot of guts.. he'd certainly have as good a chance of making it to the final bell as others who did so around that time like Tucker, Smith and Green..

 

Douglas fought d more durable opponents : McCall , Tyson , Tucker & Ferguson .
Also , Witherspoon hit Bruno after Bruno went down - a foul which in UK terms earned him d KO .
I believe Douglas hit harder than Witherspoon , he also had d better physique .

 

tyson by fatality

 

Tyson WMD12... but Witherspoon gives him plenty of trouble.

On the way up Witherspoon beat Ratliff KO7 and Snipes. Witherspoon lost a very close decision to a prime Holmes (SD12) in just his 16th pro fight. He beat Jumbo Cummings, Quick Tillis KO1, Greg Page (for the vacant WBC HW title), and lost a very close decision to Pinklon Thomas (WMD12). He beat James Broad KO2, Bonecrusher Smith (in their first fight), Tony Tubbs (for the WBA HW title), and Frank Bruno KO11 (title defense). He also beat Jose Ribalta, The Truth Williams, and he lost close decisions to Ray Mercer and Monte Barrett as an old man. Also as an old man he beat Jorge Gonzalez KO5 and Elieser Castillo.

When he was 100% he was pretty damn good.

 

...which is sad for several reasons. Witherspoon really was better than Smith. He easily beat Bonecrusher by near shut out in their first fight and Witherspoon would have given Tyson much more trouble IMO.

I always thought Witherspoon vs. Dokes would have been a good fight.

 

witherspoon was fantastic against smith the first time, beat bonecrusher so much more emphatically than Tyson beat smith.
On his night (with something to prove) spoon had the goods to really bother Tyson but could you ever rely on his attitude to deliver the goods?
During Tyson’s reign witherspoon was the best qualified to test him and was winning fights. sure Tyson made light work of tubbs and Thomas but they were trading on their names, neither turned up wanting to win and were not beating rated fighters since before Tyson turned pro.
The best opponents Tyson met in title fights with genuine form were smith, Tucker, Williams and Douglas.
Spoon was kind of froze out, he had already had two or three cracks at titles and had upset don King who was promoting things at title level. Maybe whilst he was out in the cold he would have woke up and taken a chance against Tyson seriously but I think he was semi disillusioned by then. You could never bet on witherspoon however good he could be.
The kind of resistance Tim put up against mercer and Bruno in competitive top level fights was something to behold, it showed that he could turn it on when he wanted to over a lot of years.

 

A prime Spoon gives Tyson all he can handle and then some more. Tyson unravels in this one

 

has he got the pedigree to be relied upon though?

 

Spoon would give Tyson some problems, but ulimately his reliance on the crab jab isn't going to do him any favors against an aggressive combination puncher. Mike will make him miss the jab and have his way with him. Mike Kos him him with the left hook over the jab before this makes it to the mid rounds. Spoon's bight spots will come in the form of his under used lead right, perhaps stalling Mike once or twice and drawing a smile from him.

 

Spoon was good (on his day, which isn't a given) but was he significantly better than the other guys Tyson was beating? I'm not convinced. Tyson did convincingly beat the three fighters who had beaten Spoon by that point. Tyson is quicker, hits harder and more active (Spoon could be frustratingly lazy at times). Spoon should be durable and savvy enough to last the distance and cause Tyson some problems but I'd expect another Tony Tucker esque fight with Tyson winning 8-4 or thereabouts.

 

There is very little difference between Spoon and most of the heavies of the 80s'. A good solid fighter but inconsistent and not great. I think he was also a bit too slow for a fighter like Tyson in the late 80's.