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'Terrible' Tim just terrific
At the recent Ricky Hatton v Carlos Maussa bout, I had the pleasure of spending the evening with 'Terrible' Tim Witherspoon.
It was a great honour to be interviewing one of boxing's true greats, and reliving his fascinating sporting life was an evening I will always remember.
Witherspoon was an all-round sportsman who represented his college at basketball, baseball and American football.
He had five amateur boxing bouts, before launching into his professional career in October 1979.
And his all-action style and hand speed soon caught the eye.
His first title bout was against champion Larry Holmes for the WBC heavyweight title in 1983; many fans thought Witherspoon won, but Holmes took it by a split-decision.
In 1984, Witherspoon fought Greg Page for the WBC title and became a world champion.
Later that year, he lost his title to Pinklon Thomas, but he
quickly returned to the ring and beat Tony Tubbs to take the WBA crown in January 1986.
He will be best remembered in this country when coming to Wembley to fight Frank Bruno in July 1986.
Bruno boxed well, but Witherspoon's awesome power unleashed in the 11th round forced the referee to step in to save Bruno from further punishment, and Tim retained his WBA title.
He finally lost the title to James 'Bonecrusher' Smith in December 1986, but continued boxing until 2002 when he retired.
However, after our meeting in Sheffield, Witherspoon said we must keep in touch and he has confirmed this week he is going to return to the ring.
His training is going very well and he has a bout lined up on March 10 in Philadelphia.
I wish him well for the future.
On his next trip to England, I will be taking Witherspoon around some local clubs, as he wants to meet as many young boxers as possible.
Look out for him.
12 January 2006
This isn't good news
At the recent Ricky Hatton v Carlos Maussa bout, I had the pleasure of spending the evening with 'Terrible' Tim Witherspoon.
It was a great honour to be interviewing one of boxing's true greats, and reliving his fascinating sporting life was an evening I will always remember.
Witherspoon was an all-round sportsman who represented his college at basketball, baseball and American football.
He had five amateur boxing bouts, before launching into his professional career in October 1979.
And his all-action style and hand speed soon caught the eye.
His first title bout was against champion Larry Holmes for the WBC heavyweight title in 1983; many fans thought Witherspoon won, but Holmes took it by a split-decision.
In 1984, Witherspoon fought Greg Page for the WBC title and became a world champion.
Later that year, he lost his title to Pinklon Thomas, but he
quickly returned to the ring and beat Tony Tubbs to take the WBA crown in January 1986.
He will be best remembered in this country when coming to Wembley to fight Frank Bruno in July 1986.
Bruno boxed well, but Witherspoon's awesome power unleashed in the 11th round forced the referee to step in to save Bruno from further punishment, and Tim retained his WBA title.
He finally lost the title to James 'Bonecrusher' Smith in December 1986, but continued boxing until 2002 when he retired.
However, after our meeting in Sheffield, Witherspoon said we must keep in touch and he has confirmed this week he is going to return to the ring.
His training is going very well and he has a bout lined up on March 10 in Philadelphia.
I wish him well for the future.
On his next trip to England, I will be taking Witherspoon around some local clubs, as he wants to meet as many young boxers as possible.
Look out for him.
12 January 2006
This isn't good news
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