Tim Witherspoon

No one is denying that, Tyson wasn't a real fighter post prison. We're talking about the 80's Tyson that was proud to hold the title that his idols and heroes held before him. That Tyson avoided no one.

I don't want this thread to turn into a thread about Tyson, but I will say that I find it unlikely Spoon lasts the distance with Tyson. Not that he is an inferior opponent to those that did (Tucker, Smith, Green, Tillis) but because Witherspoon would try to win and not just hang on and be happy to lose a decision.

PS, Bonecrusher Smith was the reigning WBA Champion when Tyson fought him after he took out Witherspoon himself. Tyson didn't "choose" to give him a title shot.

 

Great allrounder is a good way to describe Spoon. His defense and punching technique is excellent, the only fault I have with him is that he didn't have a high enough workrate sometimes.

 

Ignore him.

Anyway, I'm going to pop in Barrett-Witherspoon tonight, I'll post my scorecard and maybe a little round by round if anyone's interested :good

 

Just got done watching a 43 year old Witherspoon fight Monte Barrett in 2001, interesting fight and here's my scorecard. I love it when an old veteran who everyone thinks is washed up goes in with a supposed young stud and gives him all he can handle.

Round 1-10-10. Dirty fight right off the bat, both guys are rabbit punching and could go either way.

Round 2-10-9 Spoon. Barrett isn't landing much and is getting hit with some bodyshots. He is trying to sucker Tim in and catch him with a wide right but Witherspoon isn't falling for it.

Round 3-10-9 Barrett. Barrett's busier in this round and lands some shots. You can tell Witherspoon can see the openings and countering opportunities but his body isn't moving like his mind is telling it to....

Round 4-10-9 Spoon. Another close one but Tim is really showing good ring generalship and is crowding Barrett nicely, especially after his jab lands to make sure Barrett can't counter and make use of his superior reflexes.

Round 5-10-9 Barrett. Could go either way but Barrett was the busier man so I gave it to him. Barrett is trying to land some flashy shots but looks foolish when the old man blocks them.

Round 6-10-9 Barrett. Easily Barrett's best round so far. Tim allowed himself to be cornered and basically took a round off to catch his breath.

Round 7-10-9 Witherspoon. Tim comes out looking sharp and lands some good jabs and continues making the fight in his territory.

Round 8-10-9 Witherspoon. Barrett continues to allow himself to fight on the inside and in the clinches with Spoon and he's losing because of it. Tim lands right hands every time they tie up.

Round 9-10-8 Barrett. Most important round of this fight, Barrett comes out looking better than he has and is outworking a very tired Witherspoon. Tim misses a wide shot and his upperbody falls between the ropes and out of the ring(looks like Jimmy Young ) and as he waits for the ref to seperate them Barrett starts throwing full power shots at a defenseless Spoon. The ref finally breaks them up and a few moments later when he's breaking them up again a pissed off Witherspoon nails Monte with a shot. The ref then decides to take a point off Spoon which is pivotal here.

Round 10-10-9 Barrett. Barrett continues where he left off and outworks the more tired Spoon. Spoon is fighting back hard and misses some homerun shots late in the fight though.

Overall scorecard-96-94 Monte. Tough fight to score though, 3-4 rounds could of gone either way and I could of seen Terrible Tim get the decision here and it shows what a talent Tim Witherspoon was. Spoon really put in a really good performance considering his age and amount of miles under him, Monte is at his best here in 01 and barely got the W. This fight's worth a look imo :good