The second Witherspoon/Smith fight was an obvious abberation. Even if Tim didn't outright take a dive, he was obviously not physically nor mentally prepared. He easily beat Smith a year and a half earlier. As for Tim being boring, I doubt Holmes thought so as Tim was landing huge right hands on him and hurting him. When in shape and motivated, Tim was very formidable. And after he scared the crap out of Holmes, he was fighting better competition than Larry did. Larry was the "Real Champ" in 1984-85 based only on the fact he never lost his title in the ring. But, the WBC and WBA titles had the best guys in the division, save Holmes, fighting each other while Holmes was given the IBF title and then cherry picked his competition.
The frustrating thing is Witherspoon was literally the only other active contender in the ratings. During Tyson’s reign Witherspoon fought 7 times in the time Tyson fought 10 times. And Tim was facing decent opponents. statistically this should have made Witherspoon one of Tyson’s better prepared challengers. Ironically the only reason Tim was so actively seeking good opposition was because he had been frozen out the championship scene. Don’t we just know if Witherspoon was in line for a title shot he would have been kept out of the ring and messed around like the rest of them. Back then contenders were not fighting contenders. everyone stood in line for the active champion to defend against him. It doesn’t help that Tim Witherspoon was also his own worse enemy. He was like a lot of other guys who saw things for what they were and understood that it is the business that decides who the superstar is going to be, and if it’s not going to be you who the business decides on then you already have your own excuses ready.
Just watched the rematch and if Witherspoon was that out of shape I think you're right, but the Witherspoon that gave Holmes hell I would expect to make Tyson look bad for at least five rounds or so. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm kind of weak in my knowledge of heavy's from the first half of the eighties and haven't watched all that many fights from the ~'80-85 time span.
I think everyone has solid points here. But after rewatching Witherspoon win the belt, and Pinklon Thomas take it away...to me Thomas looked like the better fighter overall. And he got mostly mangled by Mike. I honestly can't see Tim doing any better, probably worse in light of the Smith wipe out.
I think you are largely correct. Basically Tim blew that fight with Bonecrusher, which had he won , you wouldve assumed he would fight Tyson. After that he fought 7 times in Tysons reign although I would say largely against modest opposition. That's 7 fights in 3 and a half years at arguably his peak, none of which were high profile. It continued that way after Tyson lost his title , Tim eventually beating Carl William's on a dubious split decision for the NABF title. By the time Tim got higher profile fights again, his best days were behind him. If you work backwards his career in the big time ended that day in MSG in front of a small crowd when Bonecrusher beat him in round one. It was a freezing cold day in December and the place was 2 thirds empty. Biggs / Snipes was the supporting bout. Strangely The Duva's were offered the Witherspoon fight at short notice for Biggs but they declined as King wanted options on Biggs , plus King felt they wanted way more money than he was prepared to pay. Witherspoon had a rift with King and he never got back in the picture. At his best he wouldve been one of Tysons more durable opponents , but I dont see he does anything to ultimately beat peak Tyson in that 86-89 timeframe.
The best version of Tim during Tysons best yrs doesnt win. Ive said it many times give me the version that fought Holmes and yes i know he was still a little green but it was the best version of Tim i ever saw. That Tim has a great chance to win. Might even bet a couple bucks on him.
The only reason Spoon looked good in that fight was because Holmes was getting old in the tooth......and he still lost.......and he ate a awful lot of shots from Holmes who is s sharp puncher but is not a lights out puncher.................Tyson stops ANY version of Tim because his fire power is mega fold over Homes while cracking Spoons leaky defense.
I believe Tim had pretty good defense. Excellent jab one of the best masters of the overhand rt. Yea Holmes was slipping then but in form Tim could give anyone a long night. Unfortunately he got lazy and overweight after this fight. Wast of a real talent. Id still give this version of Tim a very good shot.
I agree on Tyson beating any version of Tim but I gotta say, Tim was one of the better defensive fighters in heavyweight history. He was very difficult to hit clean.
Tyson would stop Witherspoon. Tim might be awkward for a while but Tyson would get him imo. Witherspoon would be trying to time him with the overhand right but Tyson would be well aware of that and was hard to hit at his best. Tyson would find that mid range and lash both body and head. I reckon Witherspoon would start loading up a bit and leaving himself open to Tyson's speed and power.
He actually was in good shape against Page and Thomas in 84. He got a little heavier in 85 and when he fought Tubbs in Jan. 86 he was still in relatively good shape. Then the rift with King showed it's head around the Bruno fight. Tim was way overweight but still beat Bruno. Then, he was way out of shape for Smith.
How has this made 6 pages? It’s simple, Witherspoon blew his golden ticket to a Tyson fight when he was sparked by Smith (whilst still high on cocaine) and then frozen out by Don King who is known to hold a grudge or two The Witherspoon who would of faced Tyson would of been blown away
Tim might just be a bit slippery for Mike in the very beginning...I just can't see Tim quelling the almost-supernatural ferocity of Mike though. It might last three rounds, but I doubt it. We're talking prime, just-made-Michael-Spinks-look-like-a-girl Tyson. Only Louis, Holmes, Foreman, Ali (on their respective best days)...probably FOTC Frazier could have beat him the pfp.
