By James Slater: Former two-time heavyweight champ Tim Witherspoon was a surprise visitor to the city of York in the north of England yesterday. The former World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) king was the special guest at a small club called The Acorn (in my home town), the 53-year-old kindly helping a local charity that has been set up to held a local lady who was tragically paralysed after an accident.
And whilst he was busy raising money for this worthy cause, “Terrible” Tim went down an absolute storm with the sell out crowd. Mingling with the punters, enjoying a drink (or three) with same and sharing with his fans many fascinating stories from his 24-year pro career, Witherspoon sent those in attendance home happy.
Upon taking to the stage for the purposes of telling the story of his long career and of engaging in a Q and A session, Tim proved to be very, very interesting.
Some of the nuggets he came out with are as follows.
On sparring with the great Muhammad Ali when he himself was an up-and-comer:
“I was getting paid so much money to work with Ali, I couldn’t believe it. I asked his team, ‘Is this all for me!?’ It was great to be around Ali, even though he was getting sick by then. He told me to hit him in the head in sparring, and I told him no way was I gonna do that. I hit him in the body only. They [his team] knew Ali shouldn’t have fought Larry Holmes, but the fight went on. Holmes beat a sick Ali.”
On who would’ve won: Ali or Mike Tyson at their best:
“Mike’s a friend of mine, but you can’t compare these two. Ali would have won easy. There is no comparison. Tyson was a bad guy [in the ring], but you have to appreciate Ali’s skills. Ali all the way!”
On challenging Larry Holmes for the world title after just 15 pro fights:
“I was a young kid, and I didn’t really know what was happening. That fight came real quick. I asked my team ‘Are we really going for the title already?’ But I took him to a real close split decision and a lot of people thought I’d won.”
On becoming world champ in 1984:
“I never was in a position to be able to be in a financially good advantage. I never had that true feeling of being a champion, that good feeling that went with it, because the money never went along with it. It was just the championship. So I can‘t tell you about that good feeling.”
On His KO win over Frank Bruno:
“I think that if Bruno had had my trainers, he’s have beaten me. But he was too stiff and too heavily muscled. Also, if all of the English fans, and I mean all of ‘em’ had gotten behind him, maybe he’d have done better. But there was so much negativity aimed at Frank Bruno; from his own countrymen. That affected him I believe. He was a gentleman, Bruno – he called my hotel the day after the fight to see if I was okay.”
On Don King:
“I knew I’d get robbed in the Bruno fight, but I thought I’d get $800,000. I should have got close to $3 million, but I was willing to settle for $800,000 – crazy, right! But Don King robbed me bad and I only got $95,000. He had a lot of power and I believe he had some mob connections of some kind. People were afraid of him.”
On losing to James “Bonecrusher” Smith on purpose to get out from under King’s contract:
They had the three-knockdown rule in that fight, and I told my lawyer to get me $450,000 and that I was gonna lose the fight. I didn’t care. I’d made up my mind I had to get away from Don King. He wanted the [WBA] title, he had Mike Tyson waiting in the wings. The first fight with Smith, I won easy. I won nearly every round and I played with him. A couple of times I almost knocked him out. I was happy when I lost the belt in that second fight.”
On fame and fortune:
“I tell you all honestly, without people like you, I wouldn’t have the chance to sign autographs or pose for pictures. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to wear nice clothes and drive nice cars. You all bought your ticket for a good cause and you make all this stuff possible. From the bottom of my heart I thank all you guys.”
Tim then mingled with the fans some more and during this time I was able to sit with him for a few minutes and ask him some questions for Eastside Boxing – a web site he says he is familiar with!
J.S: You sparred with Ali, of course. Who else did you spar with on the way up?
T.W: Gerry Cooney.
J.S: I never knew that. What were those sessions like? Cooney was really hot at the time.
T.W: Right. My trainer told me how to deal with Gerry Cooney: to position myself and to do certain things, and I did pretty well. I sparred with him but it didn’t last that long.
J.S: You mean someone got knocked out?
T.W: No, not when I sparred him. I’m not gonna say what happened, but I did pretty well. He had busted up all his sparring partners apart from me.
J.S: And where did you spar him?
T.W: At the Catskills.
J.S: You were two-time champ, beating Greg Page and then Tony Tubbs. Who was the better fighter?
T.W: I think Tubbs had more ability, more skills. Page was supposed to be the next Muhammad Ali, but he really didn’t live up to it, to expectations. He was a great guy though.
J.S: Of all the guys you fought, was Larry Holmes the best?
T.W: No. He was experienced, he’d been out there and he had a good jab. But he pulled back [in fights], his defence was bad. But he was just a hard, aggressive, non-quitting fighter. He didn’t quit, he was determinated (sic).
J.S: One fight of yours I remember well, even though it wasn’t one of your biggest, is the smashing 1st-round KO you scored over the huge Anders Eklund (from 1989). Do you remember that fight well?
T.W: Oh yeah, I remember. I used my overhand right on him. He was there for it, and I knew he didn’t know what I knew. I knew it’d just be a matter of time and that he was right there for that shot.
J.S: Let me ask you about the Klitschkos, also tall guys. No-one seems to have a prayer against them, and it’s primarily, in Wladimir’s case anyway, because they can’t get past his left jab. You fought Holmes, a guy with one of the best jabs in history. How would you tackle the Klitschkos? David Haye never did a thing against Wladimir last time.
T.W: Well, I tell you about Haye. I was supposed to train him a few years ago, but he wasn’t really the kind of guy that you could tell what to do. David Haye’s trainer never fought before, and when I asked him six or seven years ago, I asked Adam Booth, who was working the pads, ‘how do you do that?’ And he said, ‘I watch films.’ I said do not tell anybody that! This is something that’s true. So one of Haye’s problems was, his trainer’s never been there and done it. Why didn’t anybody check out his trainer’s record? Adam Booth couldn’t teach David how to get inside and be effective. That’s the way to beat the Klitschkos: hit the body – isn’t the body larger than the head? I was always taught, if you can’t hit the head, hit the body; then come over with the right. You can’t jab with those guys if you’re smaller than them. But Haye didn’t know that.
Tim stayed talking with fans for at least a couple of hours, proving once again how he is a true people’s champ. And of historical note, it has been reported how Witherspoon has the distinction of being the first-ever world heavyweight champ to visit the city of York!