Tim Witherspoon

I think that with his comp list, claim to being a two time titlist, along with his competitiveness in both defeat and old age, he is probably a top 30-35 heavyweight. Ring Magazine rates him quite a bit lower on the scale, but I don't always agree with everything ring says either. He is for the most part, a forgotten quantity and a man who's legacy probably could have been better under different circumstances...........Circumstances that he himself did not help..

 

a witherspoon with his head together and properly trained was the fighter i wanted to see fight tyson around 87-90

 

Team Tyson did not want this fight. Witherpsoon was likely the 3rd best heavyweight of the 1980's, behind Holmes and Tyson.

 

In 1987, even Spoon focused and in-shape, I'd guess he still gets cut to ribbons by Tyson............... Just like Stinklon Thomas was........ Christ, Thomas had only ONE decision loss (Berbick '86) when he was wasted by Tyson in 1987.......... Tyson was on fire in '87 and '88........ Spoon gets his goose cooked, too..............

MR.BILL

Note:

But, I gotta say, Thomas is one dude who aged 20 years between 1985 to 1987........... He went downhill fast and hard............. Spoon's stumble wasn't as quick............

 

Tim was a well balanced talent when he was on form. but management issues caused troublesome through his finer years.. Tyson v Witherspoon around 1987 would have been a tough ask of Mike, Tim was a very hard man to figure out and was a great alrounder.

 

Tim would take Tyson to the distance, at his best, may still lose, but give Tyson some tough moments.

 

atschatsch What a load of Hoarse ****. Tyson ducked NO ONE. Fighters ducked Tyson. Spoon got absolutley hammered away in one round by spoon...and though spoon fans like to say King fixed it...Film tells us a different story. It shows Bonecrusher simply catchinmgg spoon cold. Spoon had developed man boobs and looked terribly out of shape by 1987...so Team Tyson certainly would not be afraid. Especially considering tyson DESTROYED men who either beat/competitive with spoon.

Spoon was no better than Tubbs and Thomas. In fact he would have ended up just like them against Tyson. I doubt Spoon would have lasted more than 4 rounds...Tyson in 1987-88 was on a completley different level.


Spoon to me was a very good fighter top 30-35 all time. HOWEVER, on this forum he tends to get a little overrated by Larry Holmes fans. He never showed to me he was a step above fighters like Pinklon Thomas and Tony Tubbs.

 

No way Tim goes the distance with tyson. Tyson fought durable skilled alpha champs just like Spoon who had NEVER been down before...and Tyson easily wasted them. Spoon would be no different. Spoon showed in the bonecrusher fight he was highly susceptible to a early aggresive attack...and no one was better at that than tyson. Tysons combination of Speed and Power Technique will simply overwhelm Spoon in the first couple rounds. As for Spoons durability, there is no such thing as a good chin against tyson. Spoon fought too aggresivley to go the distance vs tyson. Unless spoon pulls a grab a thon, i expect his counterpunchig aggresive style to be overwhelmed early by Mike.

 

No way? Didn't a few bug guys go the distance with the prime Tyson? I think so. Witherpsoon would have been Tyson's best opponent in the 1980's. Since Tyson began to lose form and focus as early as the 1st Bruno fight ( Bruno badly rocked Tyson ), and was later on upset by Douglas in 1990, Witherpsoon has a chance to pull off the upset as well.

In fact, powerful out fighters with skills were Tyson's worst match ups.

Timmy was skilled, he had a great chin, and pretty good power. Good on defense, and counter punching too. If we look history, it seems Tyson liked to give title shots to guys Witherpsoon had already beaten.....Smith, Bruno, and Tubbs.

 

Tyson did not fight Bowe. The fight was out there. It would have been HUGE. He did not fight Mercer, Sanders, Morrer, Foreman, Ike, or Tua either. The Foreman fight was out there as well. It would have been HUGE.

In truth, Tyson was a carefully managed fighter from 1994-2000. Why give Seldon a title shot when the above fighters are still out there? Also, he targeted a past his best Bruno to win back a world title belt.

You might not realize it, but Tyson pulled out of more fights due to injury or scheduling conflict than any heavyweight I can think of in the 1990's. Its true.

 

Two weeks ago I was looking for his fights on YouTube but I found nothing good... If anyone has any, I'd love to see some (uploaded on YouTube).

 

Tyson did not fight Bowe? Bowe was a friggin' nobody during Tyson's first reign of terror.......... That applies to Lewis as well............ Both Bowe and Lewis were still amateurs or rookies between 1986 to 1990.................. Now I am sure we have too many kids on this forum of ESB....... ARGH!!

SR.BILLARDO

 

Maybe I should have been more specific. Tyson of the 1980s DUCKED NO ONE. He certainly did duck people in the 1990s.