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. In 1982, he was matched with Renaldo Snipes, who had just given champion Larry Holmes a fair challenge (and knocked Holmes down), and outpointed him over 10 rounds, setting up his own challenge to Holmes. Ali also gave Witherspoon his complimentary ring alias of "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon. Witherspoon was a sparring partner of Ali as he was training to fight Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. In 1981, he participated in his first high-profile fight, knocking out future world cruiserweight champion Alfonzo Ratliff, after which he was signed by Don King.
#TIM WEATHERSPOON AGE PROFESSIONAL#
Making his professional debut with a first-round TKO over Joe Adams on October 30, 1979, Witherspoon quickly rose through the ranks.
Witherspoon had six amateur bouts, losing the last to Marvis Frazier on decision after getting knocked down. Witherspoon also worked as a regular sparring partner for Muhammad Ali. He is best known for his fight against undefeated Heavyweight World Champion Larry Holmes in which he lost by Split decision. He beat Heavyweight World Champions Greg Page, James Smith, Tony Tubbs, Frank Bruno and Cruiserweight World Champions Alfonzo Ratliff and Al Cole. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title in 1984, and the WBA title in 1986. Tim Witherspoon (born December 27, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003.
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