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Monday, March 11, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Witherspoon gets quick knockout

Ex-heavyweight champ rocks Wilson in second

Tim Witherspoon essentially landed two punches Sunday during his fight with Darroll Wilson at Green Valley Ranch. And the 44-year-old former heavyweight champion said he didn't throw either one properly.

But Wilson and the sparse crowd in attendance might have had difficulty believing that. After an uneventful first round, Witherspoon ended things authoritatively with a pair of thunderous rights in the second.

Witherspoon rocked Wilson with an overhand right early in the second, then finished the bout seconds later. Wilson was in a corner as Witherspoon came over the top with a right that knocked Wilson out at 1:02 of the round. Wilson fell face first to the mat, getting his arm caught in the ropes on the way down.

Wilson lay motionless for several minutes before being revived. He later walked from the ring under his own power and said he was fine. A paramedic who treated Wilson confirmed that the boxer was fine, but said Wilson would be sent to a hospital for a CT scan as a precaution.

Witherspoon, who twice held a version of the heavyweight championship, was thrilled with the victory. He insisted, though, that the punches weren't thrown properly.

"I didn't really throw it right," said Witherspoon, who weighed 249 pounds for the fight. "It was almost accurate, but it wasn't exactly how we want to do it."

Then, he grinned broadly and added, "But it worked."

That it did. Witherspoon's right hand is what caused promoter Dan Goossen, who is starting a new promotional company, to take a gamble and sign the boxer. When Witherspoon began his professional career in 1979, none of the three men who hold the major heavyweight titles was old enough to drive. Lennox Lewis was 14, John Ruiz was 7 and Wladimir Klitschko was 3.

Witherspoon, a single parent who said he has to cook and clean for three of his children and a grandchild who live with him, wants one more shot at a major fight before he retires. His son, 17-year-old Tim Jr., is an amateur boxer and doesn't mind him fighting, but his three girls are opposed to it.

They probably won't complain too much if Dad continues to have easy fights like he did Sunday.

"I just want to get respect and possibly get an opportunity to fight for the title again or get a big-money fight," Witherspoon said. "The money comes with it and obviously I want that, but what I really want is the title. Give me a chance to fight for the title. Larry Holmes did it. Other guys did it. George Foreman did it and he fought easier guys. Just get me Michael Moorer or some other big fight."