Instead of facing Ruddock in his comeback, Tyson faced Tim Witherspoon? Now, this was far from a prime Tim but he was on a roll with about 8 wins on the trot. So, if Tyson had took on Witherspoon in this point in time, could his comeback have come to an abrupt end?
I think that it is unlikely that Withersopon would have been successful. He was very inconsistent in his training habits at this stage, and had been for some time.
Witherspoon really was going through the motions in this period of his career. Tyson had lost a step physically and was certainly not the same mentally, but I do not see this fight being any harder for him than the Ruddock fights; Razor being at a career high at the time. A post prison Tyson against Witherspoon (1996) would have been a lot more interesting as Tim had his Indian Summer, looked motivated and was in as good a shape as he had been for at least a decade.
That's a thought. Tyson beating Bruno for a belt then facing a up for it Witherspoon. That could have turned in to a bad mistake for Tyson, he may have totally underestimated Tim?
No. The Tyson that dominated and ruined his fellow top contender over two fights was at the very least close to his very best while Tim clearly was on the slide and not nearly as good as Tyson in the first place.
Tyson KO inside 4 over any version. Witherspoon wasn't going to back him up near often enough. He often looped his right hand and Tyson just loved those big overhand right swings. Tyson also had an ATG left hook to whip around the right hand in front of the left side of the face defense. Against a guy like Holmes Timmy didn't have to worry about the left hook, the offense was basically all coming at the left side of his face via straight jabs and right hands.
Another Tyson thread by good, ol' @Fergy ! I've heard you've just listened to Tris Dixon's interview with Steve Lott for a staggering 94th time.
Tim had a shot. He had two hands. Experience and enough respect for Tyson to get in the best shape possible. Unlike Ruddock, Witherspoon knew how to fight. He had balance and a fighting brain. So he has it all over Razor.
I think Razor might have even beaten Spoon at almost any stage. Especially in 91 when Spoon BARELY got the SD nod over Carl Williams.
I always thought Witherspoon had a chance with Tyson if he didn't have a Bonecrusher 2 night. He was quick and powerful and big. Tim was the guy I was always worried about for Mike. Tim's problem was he was a typical 80s heavyweight. No discipline and consistency.. So he would get out of shape and then back in. Mike was a student of boxing. But Tim's style and size if both were in shape and motivated beats Mike's
