Murdered by Tim "Doc" Anderson. He was known for fixing fights, particularly in the case of Marc Gastineau. Anyone have any interesting info on Parker?
There’s a book called The Years of the Locust by Jon Hotten that is all about Rick Parker and Doc Anderson and, eventually, the murder. It’s worth checking out.
Don't know if you'll find anything new here, but this goes into detail about Parker, and of course, the incident with Anderson. Forgot Parker was with Cooper when he nearly pulled off the upset against Holyfield. https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7b...arker-poison-bribes-murder-heavyweight-boxing
One interesting note about Parker from the book I mentioned above is that he amassed a good bit of money off a cleaning solution that was sold door to door. I think he was a door to door salesman himself and then either invented, enhanced or acquired a cleaning solution that brought in iirc a few hundred thousand a year. It may have been a pyramid scheme with people out selling it and him getting a cut at every layer, and I can’t remember if he eventually sold that business to acquire capital or what, but the income subsidized his entry into the boxing world. He was a sleezy con man and probably a lot of other bad things. But I’m not convinced Tim Anderson was actually poisoned — there’s no medical proof of it or anything that showed up in any drug test, and his own account of the fight and being out of sorts and defenseless doesn’t jibe with the (admittedly very bad, shot from long view from a still position camera) film. His symptoms after the fight are consistent with a bad concussion, and he had pretty serious health problems before (gastro-intestinal stuff). I also feel like it’s beyond question that the murder was premeditated. I mean, he took a gun and he pulled it and shot multiple times — including shooting Parker right in the balls/groin area (I want to say that might have been the first shot). I don’t doubt that Anderson believes he was poisoned or that Parker owed him a lot of money based on promises (although not contracts), but I do think he went there to kill him. The sick/sad thing is he took Parker’s sister (I think Tim was dating her) and her kid with him and told them to go hang out at the pool or something while he talked to Rick. It’s a sad story all the way around and I couldn’t really disagree with anyone who thinks REP got what he deserved, but I also think Tim is in the right place (prison) because he without a doubt murdered the guy and it’s hard to argue it wasn’t planned.
That deal with Gasteneau & Parker was on a 60 mins show They showed guys that claimed they took dives against Gastineau to boost his career Sports Illustrated picked up the story & their headline was " The Fix was In" & on the cover was a pic of Tex Cobb who was on one of the bills. Tex was just making good $$$$$$$ out of his movie career. That really finished it for Tex He sued Sports Illustrated & got a decent settlement Then it was retried & Tex lost the case & the settlement The guy Tex was fighting was a journeyman who Tex knocked down 3 or 4 times & finally out but claimed to SI he'd taken a dive. Tex always the comedian said laughing " why would I need him to take a dive my missus could take him out no problem" lol Great guy Tex one of the toughest SOGs I ever met
Yeah a comebacking Tex somehow got involved with Rick Elvis. Classic case of ‘you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.’
Tex said he was in no way connected with Parker, what started it was he was on the card , he was the only known fighter on there so SI used his photo when they broke the story. He sued & won & was awarded a settlement but they countered & the settlement was squashed. Was a travesty the movie co lost interest in him & stopped using him. Parker got just about what he deserved. One guy was a pro wrestler that did take a dive for Gastineau had never boxed before. Gastineau's punch lifted him off his feet supposedly knocked him cold the guy said that's the first thing you learn as a wrestler how to fake it LOL. I have an old VCS tape of the 60 minutes show somewhere its titled "The Fix Was In" I'll have to try & find it . Maybe you could still google it Of cause theyre not all labeled lol just two or three boxes of VCS tapes
Parker was a flea bag alright Its a good job Doc Anderson caught up with him cause I think Tex would have liked to get his hands on him
