Official Ask Tim Witherspoon Anything Thread

[GeneTunney7]

wow, wish i woulda known you were posting here sir, i would have made my boxing forum return for sure

anyway WOW, ask you anything??? REALLY???



i have SO many questions… before i can even BEGIN to narrow that ‘santa’s wish list’ of questions let me please get one thing out of the way by making a statement of my humble opinion:


Tim Witherspoon, you are one of my favorite pro fighters of all time and THE SINGLE MOST UNDERRATED PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE EVER that i can think of… how did this happen?

in my opinion the main thing was when YOU WERE ROBBED (as others were) of your victory over Larry Homes… YOU WON THAT FIGHT, anyone who says otherwise i dont even have the time or energy to argue with you, i mean COME ON…

even tho you lost the fight you went on to beat many top names of the time, some of which were great and iconic fighters of the time like Bonecrusher Smith, Frank Bruno, Tony Tubbs…

all of whom are undeservedly mentioned in the same breath as you are…


people who dont know, Tim Witherspoon was only the 3rd person to regain a world heavyweight championship in HISTORY, only after Floyd “the original ‘gumby’ hair-do” Patterson and Muhammad “The Greatest of all Times” Ali…







I mean, COME ON…



i love you mang… definitely in my top 5 all time all weights all fighting styles, not just boxing

Could not agree more with all your sentiments. If the corrupt judges give him the rightful nod over Larry, the history books and people would understand how special Tim was. He very well may be "the most under rated athlete of all time" as you surmised as well. If not him, then who?

And then if he beats Larry, stays motivated, Don King does not screw him over, he gets the Tyson fight later on and then what? He was always a nightmare for Mike.

 

[4daLuLZ]

people who dont know, Tim Witherspoon was only the 3rd person to regain a world heavyweight championship in HISTORY, only after Floyd “the original ‘gumby’ hair-do” Patterson and Muhammad “The Greatest of all Times” Ali…
I mean, COME ON…

It’s definitely nice have a storied professional fighter of Tim’s caliber here but let’s not get carried away.

You’re comparing lineal heavyweight champions, losing their belts and regaining it, with an alphabet title.

 

[Shoemaker]

@Tim Witherspoon

If you could fight one person, any person throughout the entirety of history, who would it be?

Same question, but just punching in the face. If you were allowed one free shot on anyone in history, who would it be?

 

[facePuncher7]

Before Tim Witherspoon rresponds, just wanted to remind you that others on this forum have already previously told you that many of your assumptions about boxing and attempts to apply boxing to wing chun are not correct due to the fact that you have never been trained in boxing and are only training with a version of wing chun kung fu as your striking art.

The drop step or sinking into the punch is basic to boxing and is taught as a fundamental part of boxing. Along with stepping into the jab, it is also one of the main engines of the jab as well as of the cross.

So it's absolutely untrue that nobody in boxing knows how to do it nowadays as you assume. What is generally applicable in dempsey's methods and the methods of other great boxers of old have already been incorporated into modern boxing and those which are not so generally applicable and more specific to the unique attributes of that historical boxer are re adapted by boxers from time to time.

As for hitting with the lower three knuckles , that
is not advisable for boxers to do so as the boxers fracture is most commonly the fifth metatarsal... Furthermore the forearm bone that is connected to the lower knuckles is weaker than the forearm bone connected to the upper and larger knuckles. When the jab and cross are thrown with the correct Cork screwing motion for a full powered punch, the elbow is pointing vertical upwards and the fist is almost vertical - but downwards and with a slight wrist incline to impact with the front two knuckles but in line with the forearm. Hence there is partial application of dempsey's power line idea in modern boxing.

* Metacarpal you mean, tarsal bones are in the foot

I've had a boxers fracture myself from incorrect punching technique, and have a permanently indented knuckle as a result.

As such I wouldn't advise deliberately trying to drive all of your power through the lower hand, and I'm a generally big/strong guy that hasn't had any other breaks through years of smashing into things.

I think some people get comfortable with the idea of hitting with lower knuckles because they practise hard strikes on a bag, where the can make perfect surface contact each time and minimise the risk of a break down to almost zero, but that almost never happens in a fight where the target is actively trying to evade your strikes and causing imperfect glancing shots.

 

[PurpleStorm]

This is outstanding. Thank you for taking the time Mr. Witherspoon. Enjoyed hearing your discussion of old school moves like rubbernecking that don't get trained much any more.

Looking forward to part 2.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Is JP the bigger fighter? I’ve read that Tommy fought in the 170’s, but I don’t think JP ever fought that low. I also read that Tommy has fought as high as ~190ish? Is this just a situation where Tommy fought up in weight, where JP has to cut to make it to the 180’s? They look to be about the same size…

 

[3Aims]

Thanks for taking questions.

....in Round 9 all hell broke loose....Holmes was in full-on survival mode....

Do you play back those moments wondering if a certain combination could have put him out? What caused the shift and why the footwork and dancing back half of that fight?

Big boxing fan that watched many of your fights with my old man.

 

[tank666]

Harry Carpenter said that you commented no one could possibly hit harder than Frank Bruno. Do you still believe this? I was obviously a huge Bruno fan being British. How tough was that fight? Thank you

 

[Boxiana]

How did you score Haney Loma @Tim Witherspoon ?

 

[johndhi]

What are your thoughts on the Ngannou fight? How did he pull that off? Why did his power translate where other MMA fighters' hasn't?

 

[420Boxer]

Wow, very cool of Mr. Witherspoon. When he was coming up, I was too young and was just a year or two before I started watching fights. But when he started showing up again in the 90's, I was really glad. Because he was a throwback to guys who could simply fight. He showed Al Cole who was boss and I knew then he had a chance of making another serious run. Anyways. Tim Witherspoon's right hand was no joke. Thanks for the great memories, champ.

 

[ForemanFan]

Hi Mr. Witherspoon, I would love to know your opinion on Ngannou vs Fury fight and also in the next Ngannou match against Joshua please. All the best Champ!

 

[Big Ed]

Wich opponent did you respect the most, and who gave you the roughest bout?