Tim Witherspoon "I took a dive"

Yes. And I ( and many others ) have always believed this fight to be a dive. About 25 years ago, I saw Witherspoon fight Jeff Sims, and during the commentary Sean O'Grady said that witherspoon told him he was black mailed into throwing the Smith bout. You don't go from beating a dude a year earlier who is a level beneath you to completely getting smashed in one round unless something is drastically wrong. Louis vs Schmeling isn't a comparable example.

 

And make no mistake, there is such a thing as a “half dive”.

 

I just think of it as out of shape, out of focus, ambushed by Smith and caught early!

 

That was the common case in a Witherspoon fight.
Almost his trademark.
And to think that he was one of the very best defensively.
With his defense it barely makes any sense.
It is not an attempt to argue either way regarding the topic, just a wondering about Witherspoon.

 

I figured that fight wasn't on the level.I think Witherspoon just laid it down and basically quit that night.

 

Tim Witherspoon started making that claim a couple of years ago. But, Bonecrusher Smith knocked one of Witherspoon's front teeth out in that fight. It was reported afterward and you can see it on the HBO call, after the fight.

Most guys don't get their teeth knocked out by a punch while taking a dive.

Bonecrusher hammered Witherspoon. Had Spoon won, Tyson was next. His reign was over regardless.

The dive story is just convenient, IMO.

Was he going to take a dive against Tony Tubbs, too? Tubbs was the scheduled opponent. Bonecrusher was a late sub. Witherspoon was expecting another slow, boring fight with a light-hitting fat guy, and Bonecrusher showed up and blew him out early. That's all.

 

Spoon has been claiming this for years. I don't really buy it though. If it was a dive then I've seen less convincing legit KOs. He'd already beaten Bonecrusher in a one-sided fight and probably didn't expect much from him. Bonecrusher knew Spoon was unfocused and just rushed him and overwhelmed him before he could get into the fight.

 

Tim probably was out of shape, and in bad shape, mentally, hence the stoppage.Would have loved to see that Bonecrusher Smith-Mitch Green fight that was supposed to happened.That would've been a barnburner.

 

When did he not take a dive when he lost a fight?

 

Great question.I hate these ****ing hysterical excuses.
James Smith destroyed him because the good old Tim is ****ing
overrated. That's all.

 

Considering he got his tooth knocked out, if he did take a dive, he's about as bad at taking a dive as he is at reading contracts.

 

He had so many contracts to choose from and just picked King's.
Must be an idiot.

 

It's boxing, and nothing that happens in boxing regarding fixed, rigged, or thrown fights by any party surprises me any more. Spoon-Bonecrusher being thrown is pretty innocent in the grand scheme of what's actually taken place in the sport.

 

He did throw a couple meaty right hands against Smith in there that could have inflicted a lot of harm on a lot of fighters had they landed. I don't think he missed them on purpose either. I think he was just fat, lazy, and out of shape.