At the recent PAB HOF Inductions this past Sunday in Philadelphia, I spoke with former two-time World Heavyweight Champion ‘Terrible’ Tim Witherspoon, whom I have known over the years.
Witherspoon is one of the most beautiful and honest former champions who attend boxing matches in Philadelphia and events like the recent one. He’s a fan favorite who was kind enough to answer a few questions about his career.
I first met Witherspoon in 1979 when he sparred in camp with Muhammad Ali in Deer Lake, PA, along with his trainer ‘Slim’ Jim Robinson.
Witherspoon turned professional in October 1979, defeating Joe Adams and winning his first fifteen fights before losing a disputed split decision to WBC world champion Larry ‘The Easton Assassin’ Holmes, 42-0, at the Dunes Hotel & Casino, outside Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in May of 198 years you won the fight, I won the 198 years. more than just winning,” Witherspoon said.
In Witherspoon’s fourteenth fight, he beat Renaldo ‘Mr.’ Snipes, 22-1-1, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas by majority decision, earning him the title fight. Snipes in his previous fight lost a title fight with Holmes.
I remember watching the Holmes-Witherspoon fight and feeling that Witherspoon should have gotten the split decision. Many years later I mentioned this to Holmes at his press conference, and he was not pleased that I said it.
Witherspoon bounced back in his next fight, defeating Floyd ‘Jumbo’ Cummings, 15-4-1, at the Dunes. In September of 1983, he won the vacant NABF title vacated by Michael Dokes to go on to win the WBA title, stopping James ‘Quick’ Tillis, 26-3, in the first round. This earned him another title fight, winning the vacant WBC world title, defeating Greg Page, 23-1, at the Convention Center, Las Vegas, in March 1984. “I learned over time that Don King was just manipulating the fighters for his own benefit, warning us to get in shape, and he said there’s a young kid named you better get Tyson in shape, and he just needs to get us in shape. Tyson,” Witherspoon said.
Witherspoon lost a majority decision to Pinklon ‘Pink’ Thomas, 24-0-1, in his first defense in August at the Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas. Again, close fight.
Witherspoon would go on to win his next seven fights, including knocking out James ‘Broad Axe’ Broad, 17-1, in two rounds and winning the NABF title at the Memorial Auditorium, in Buffalo, New York.
Next, Witherspoon defeated future world champion James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith 15-3 at the Riviera Hotel. Three fights later, he defeated Tony ‘TNT’ Tubbs, 21-0, in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 17 for the WBA world title and became a two-time world champion.
Right before the Tubbs fight on December 27th, it was my birthday, and I was training for the fight, and I was smoking weed. I tested positive after the fight and paid a $25,000 fine, and had to go to rehab for about six months, and was given a rematch. Tubbs got hurt in training, hurt his shoulder and didn’t fight for another 15 months.
Then Witherspoon would travel to the United Kingdom in front of 40,000 in attendance and stop future world champion Frank Bruno, 28-1, in the eleventh round in July 1986.
In December of 1986, Witherspoon would suffer his third loss in a rematch with ‘Bonecrusher’, being stopped in the first round at Madison Square Garden, New York, to the tune of 25-3. “I was scheduled to fight Tubbs in a rematch and when I heard he was hurt, I broke camp. I wasn’t in shape for this fight. We knew there was a three-knockout rule, and I took a dive. You could see me crawling on the floor. I acted to make it look good or I wouldn’t get paid. I wasn’t even hurt,” says Witherspoon.
In 1987, Witherspoon filed a $25 million lawsuit against promoter Don King and his stepson, Carl King, who was Witherspoon’s manager, accusing them of fraud and conflict of interest. The case was settled out of court in 1992 for $1 million. “I got the money, about $800,000 in chunks,” Witherspoon said.
Witherspoon won his next eight fights. In March 1991, he won a split decision over another opponent I felt Holmes beat, only to lose when he was 16-0, IBF USBA champion Carl ‘The Truth’ Williams, 23-3, at Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, with Witherspoon winning a split decision.
Three wins later, Witherspoon lost a split decision to Everett ‘Big Foot’ Martin, 17-14-1, at the Palace, Auburn Hills, Michigan. “I took him lightly and thought he was just an opponent,” Witherspoon said.
In January 1996, Witherspoon defeated former world cruiserweight champion Al Cole, 27-1, and then great Cuban Jorge Luis Gonzalez, 24-1, both at MSG. “I boxed Gonzalez because I didn’t want to fight him,” Witherspoon said.
In Witherspoon’s next fight, he lost to former WBO world champion Ray ‘Merciless’ Mercer, 23-4-1, in Atlantic City. “His jab was harder than Holmes,” Witherspoon said. After picking up a win, he went on a five-fight losing streak against contenders WBC Continental Americas Champion Larry ‘The Legend’ Donald, 29-1-1, James Thunder, 32-9, Andrew Golota, 31-3, ‘Super’ Brian Nielsen, who would match Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0. “His people came to my house from Denmark and asked me to take a dive and they would pay me for it, I was, so I took it,” said Witherspoon, who was stopped in four rounds. Then Witherspoon lost in a rematch with Page, 55-14-1, who was stopped after seven rounds in Fayetteville, NC.
Witherspoon would go on to post an 11-1-1 record before dropping his last two fights, including for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental title against Lou Savarese, 42-4. That brought his final record to 55-13-1 with 38 shutouts in March 2003.
When he asked Witherspoon about today’s top heavyweights, he said: “I was in the UK and I would have a daughter Shanayiah Isabella Grace London Witherspoon, her mother’s last name is London and my last name, and she is now 15,” He added, “I met Anthony Joshua, and Tyson Fury. They both asked me to spar with them. I would never have known with them to do,” I said never to know.
“Two years ago I was taking my daughter to school after waking up in a sweat. I felt so bad on the way to the hospital. The doctor said ‘you’re a lucky man, if you hadn’t come in you would have died from blood clots,'” Witherspoon said.
“My son Tim Witherspoon, Jr., has a boxing gym in Bristol, PA.,” Witherspoon said.
Witherspoon said he stays healthy by drinking smoothies with honey and turmeric as he takes blood thinners. He is very knowledgeable about what to take to be healthy.
Last updated on 21/10/2025
