"Witherspoon-Tubbs" WBA title in '86 / HBO..

Well Terrible Tim might as well of been fighting out of Ulaanbaatar for most of the earlier 90s!

 

We fans are still feeling the repercussions of Gonzalez today. Gonzalez was the guy that signed that huge contract with the casino and I think, Steve Wynn. That was back when multiple casino's were throwing lots of $$$ around and wanted exclusives. For some reason I've never understood, they gave an absolutely huge one to Gonzalez.

But the beancounters at those casino's keep track of their money & there was a minimal return on all those millions. And since it's a copycat industry, everyone else pulled out & those exclusive boxer contracts disappeared pretty much overnight and aren't coming back. One thing about the Wynn and Trump types is that they don't make the same mistake twice.

 

Yes it was the MGM Grand

 

I thought so, but the old memory isn't quite as good these days. Didn't they sign the guy for like 18-20 million? I wouldn't do it with monopoly money.

 

Yes, but it was only for the purpose of fighting Riddick Bowe. They believed like Lennox Lewis, they would have the heavyweight champion locked up because Gonzalez had beaten Bowe in the amatuers. :roll:

 

You mean Witherspoon and Tubbs ?

 

I would like to see the Witherspoon-Thomas fight again. I know it's a bit of a boring one but I sure would like to see it still.

 

A Page that was disinterested and pretty much unmotivated.

 

If Snipes got a shot against the right fighter, he may have been champ.I hated that he got that draw against Frank, actually had him edging Witherspoon, but he was a strong force for a two year period.

 

Snipes looked good against Berbick.
That's the best performance I've seen from him.

The bad results on his resume are a draw with Scott Frank, and losses to Alfredo Evangelista and Rickey Parkey. 1982 -'84

 

Gonzalez was actually an excellent amatuer, beat Bowe, but Bowe took him to school on what being a top level pro was all about. That was one of the most brutal sustained beatings Ive ever seen a fighter take. Bowe was dishing out some serious punishment, and Gonzalez was taking it, more out of pride, for the monumental trash he talked leading up to the fight.
Bowe looked really good in that fight, and I remember the stutter that became a big problem for Eddie in his old age was gone during that fight. He rode Bowe all the way to the finish line. Unfortunately, that was the last focused fighting machine of Bowe we saw again.

 

Gonzalez hid and defected in Finland and managed to sign a huge contract due to his accomplishments as an amateur. Despite his promise, he never became anything as a professional. He was the laziest fighter I ever saw, perhaps because he had already made his money, and he had probably seen his best days before he ever even turned pro.

He lives here in Finland these days, or atleast used to. Not sure what he is up to now.