Tim Witherspoon

Tim Witherspoon was an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003. He has won two world titles as a heavyweight in his successful career. Witherspoon's professional boxing career spanned more than 23 years — from 1979 to 2003. He made his professional boxing debut against Joe Adams at the age of 21 on October 30, 1979, defeating Adams via a 1st round TKO. He went on to win 14 more consecutive fights after the debut, which included 10 wins via stoppage.

Witherspoon had a total of 69 fights in his professional boxing career, out of which he won 55 fights, lost 13, had 1 draw, and 0 no-contests. He had 38 KO wins under his belt, and besides that, he managed to win two world titles at heavyweight. For all the details about Witherspoon's world title wins and defenses, one can refer to "Tim Witherspoon World Titles."

Some of Witherspoon's best fights and notable victories include wins over James Tillis, Frank Bruno, Greg Page, Al Cole, Tony Tubbs, Jorge Luis González, and José Ribalta.

On May 20, 1983, Witherspoon would have his first attempt at earning a world title by taking on the recognized top man in the division World Boxing Council champion Larry Holmes at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. Witherspoon gave Holmes all he could handle, including rocking him badly in the ninth round, before losing a disputed twelve round split decision.

September 23, 1983: Tim Witherspoon beats James Tillis via 1st round TKO.

March 9, 1984: Witherspoon wins the WBC heavyweight title from Greg Page, by beating Page via 12 round majority decision.

In the following year, Witherspoon regained his NABF belt by beating James Broad in two rounds and made a successful twelve-round defense against James "Bonecrusher" Smith in his first defense of the belt. This earned him another chance at a heavyweight title, and he signed to fight reigning WBA champion Tony Tubbs on January 17, 1986, in Atlanta. Witherspoon won a close fight by a majority decision, winning by only one point on one of the scorecards and three on another with one even, to become the champion for the second time.

In his first defense of his newly won championship, Witherspoon traveled to London and fought a young up-and-coming English heavyweight, Frank Bruno, at Wembley Stadium, as part of the heavyweight unification series. In the eleventh round of a scheduled fifteen, Witherspoon recorded a technical knockout and did something he had not done when he was champion the first time: make a successful defense of the title after winning it. After defeating Bruno, a rematch with Tony Tubbs loomed, but Tubbs pulled out of the fight.

Witherspoon's reign as the champion would not be long as soon he himself was in constant war with King, and on August 31, of that year, he was outpointed by Pinklon Thomas via a majority decision.

Following the end of his second title reign, Witherspoon spent years in litigation against Don King. In 1991, he won the USBA heavyweight title by defeating fellow contender Carl "The Truth" Williams, but lost a points decision to Everett Martin - Ring magazine called this inexplicable loss the low point of his career.

In 1993, Don King settled out of court and paid Witherspoon a million dollars. By 1994, Witherspoon had won five fights in a row by knockout. Aged 38, he was signed by HBO and matched in high-profile fights with cruiserweight champion Al Cole and the Cuban amateur Jorge Luis González, both of whom he defeated. Later in the year, he was matched with Ray Mercer but lost a 10-round decision.

After that loss, Witherspoon laid off for a year, and when he came back, he was outpointed by Larry Donald on HBO, and, in 1998, lost a close decision when outworked by New Zealander Jimmy Thunder before traveling to Poland to be outpointed by Andrew Golota. The 43-year-old Witherspoon resurfaced in 2001, knocking out the prospect David Bostice in one round, outpointing Cuban southpaw contender Eliecer Castillo and Syrian Ahmed Abdin before his revival was ended by Lou Savarese, who stopped him in five rounds.

Witherspoon finally retired from professional boxing with a record of 55-13-1, which included 38 knockout wins and four losses via knockout, and two title wins.

Tim Witherspoon Fight Record