Tim Witherspoon Signed Boxing Glove
This is a great item of Boxing Memorabilia, featuring a signed "Tim Witherspoon" Boxing Glove, displayed in a silver wall mountable display case. This is a 100% original hand signed boxing glove by boxing legend Tim "Terrible" Witherspoon.
Tim Witherspoon Bibliography
Tim Witherspoon was born December 27, 1957 and is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title in 1984, and the WBA title in 1986. Upon winning his second world title, he joined Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali as the only boxers to win multiple world heavyweight championships.
He also worked as a regular sparring partner for Muhammad Ali. His style was that of a pressure fighter, using an unusual cross-arm guard similar to Ken Norton, with a strong and fast overhand right.
On May 20, 1983, HE 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. He was a relative unknown and utilized his awkward cross-arm style, Ali sparring experience, and natural physical strength to fight valiantly but he lost by a split decision, althought he'd done enough to win. The result was hotly disputed.
In December 1983, Larry Holmes relinquished his WBC title rather than defend against Greg Page, and this enabled him to fight Page for the vacant title. On March 9, 1984, he fought Page,who was in constant war with promoter Don King and turned up overweight and was outpointed in a close, mauling fight.
Hiss reign as champion would not be long however, as soon he himself was in constant war with King, and on August 31 of that year he was outpointed by Pinklon Thomas via majority decision. In 1985 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. He won a close fight by majority decision, winning by only one point on one of the scorecards and three on another with one even, to become champion for a second time.
In his first defense of his newly won championship, he traveled to London and fought a young up and coming English heavyweight Frank Bruno at Wembley Stadium. 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. Needing to make a title defense, he accepted a second fight with Bonecrusher Smith. Since dropping a lopsided decision in their first matchup (losing every round but one on all three scorecards) Smith had fought four bouts and recorded three wins, all against fringe contenders and journeymen.
The fight was scheduled for December 12, 1986 at Madison Square Garden and Witherspoon was a heavy favorite against the 17-5 Smith. Smith decided to take a more aggressive approach against him this time, and hurt him with the first punch he threw. Forty-five seconds into the round, Witherspoon dropped to a knee from a flurry of punches but referee Luis Rivera did not call it a knockdown. Thirty seconds after that, Smith felled him again. The champion took a standing eight count but Smith took advantage of his unsteady legs and knocked him down a second time. Witherspoon was never able to mount any offense against the challenger and with fifty seconds remaining in the round, Witherspoon hit the canvas a third time and Rivera ended the proceedings.
Following the end his second title reign, he spent years warring with Don King in court. Avoided by numerous big name fighters, he would fight scarcely, in varying shape and form. In 1991 won the USBA heavyweight title by defeating fellow contender Carl "The Truth" Williams but lost a points decision to at best a journeyman 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 a new and in-shape Witherspoon was back, winning five fights in a row by knockout. Aged 38 he was inked 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 comprehensively. Later in the year he was matched with Ray Mercer but lost a disputed 10-round decision. After that loss he took a sabbatical and when he came back he was outpointed convincingly by the slick Larry Donald on HBO, and, in 1998, lost a close decision when beaten by Jimmy Thunder before travelling to Poland to be outpointed by Andrew Golota.
He then resurfaced in 2001, age 43, 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 hard hitting heavyweight Lou Savarese who stopped him in five rounds.
He also competed in Cedric Kushner's 2003 Thunderbox Heavyweight Tournament, "Fistful of Dollars," but at 45 looked his age and lost in the opening stages.
He now resides in an area around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he trains boxers, including his son, lightweight Tim Witherspoon Jr and many others. He has also trained Light Heavyweight champion Clinton Woods in the U.K.
In 2014 Tim witherspoon published his autobiography.
This is a true one off of signed Tim "Terrible" Witherspoon Boxing Memorabilia item. A must for any collector of Boxing Heavyweight autographs.100% authentic autograph signed in person on a boxing glove.
All of our items come with a COA. We are happy to offer a 100% money back guarantee with every item we sell, if the autograph is not genuine. We are also happy to provide a date and place with every signature upon request where possible.
Each item is wrapped and is then protected with the largest bubble wrap available and boxed in a sturdy corrugated cardboard shipment carton. All pieces of memorabilia are shipped securely to ensure the protection of each of these priceless items.
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