- 2 days ago
Undefeated Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes defends his WBC Title against Tim Witherspoon
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00:00:00and coming through the ropes an underrated a great heavyweight champion of the world
00:00:19the world boxing council champion he has been for nearly five years 15th title defense angelo
00:00:27dundee and doesn't he look sharp he sure does he's a very fine young man and he really struggled
00:00:33through the muhammad ali mystique and he's really coming to try to come onto his own hey man he's
00:00:39undefeated undefeated heavyweight champion of the world i think he's starting to realize that
00:00:43larry holmes is something special and tim witherspoon the eight-year younger heavyweight
00:00:50contender in the left corner only 15 professional fights larry holmes 15th title defense how can it
00:00:59happen where the number three contender that's what makes boxing the heavyweight division one punch
00:01:05from a big guy can change the whole complexion of any fight this this fight to me is not over till
00:01:11it's finished over and tim witherspoon in 15 victories undefeated has scored 11 knockouts
00:01:17we'll be back with the action following this and here we go presenting to you the challenger
00:01:24on my right wearing white trunks with a black trim hailing from philadelphia pennsylvania
00:01:32weighing in tonight at 219 pounds a number three contender he has remained undefeated scoring 11
00:01:44knockouts in 15 straight wins and he has earned the name of terrible tim witherspoon
00:01:54ladies and gentlemen as his opponent the defending champion hailing from east or eastern pennsylvania
00:02:11he weighs in a trim and ready 213 pounds a champion that has done everything asked of him he has
00:02:21to remain undefeated with 30 knockouts in 42 straight wins here he is the undefeated
00:02:28heavyweight champion of the world Larry home
00:02:35you referee the district attorney of real on ivana now to give instructions
00:02:43right here
00:02:45all right larry ready ready
00:02:52okay we've gone through the instruction in the dressing room any questions from the challenges
00:02:59chief second from the challenge any questions for mr fudge from the champion all right protect
00:03:06yourself at all time let's get it on get it on mills lane who also refereed the cooney holmes fight here
00:03:13in las vegas tail of the tape eight years younger tim witherspoon same height uh six and a half pull in
00:03:20the weights the reach difference could be a factor four inches fist size well holmes is a big man
00:03:26in there at 213 pounds angelo dundee that's a good weight for the champ great weight but i was watching
00:03:32tim witherspoon he's not awed and he kept saying famous words but mohama said the same thing to sonny
00:03:38listen listen i got you and and tim is not being intimidated by look at him black with his left
00:03:43jabs beautifully done and the defense is important especially from the jab well he's a well-taught young
00:03:50man that slim jim robertson's a heck of a trend he's been schooling for a long time
00:03:58witherspoon being the aggressor here he's in the white trunks with the black stripes holmes in his
00:04:04holmes red as he calls it of course you know reach is a very deceptive thing it's the way you put your
00:04:09feet into the pocket between the other guy's two feet uh reach is deceptive it's the way you plant
00:04:15your punch so the reach differentiation is nothing all right how are these two heavyweights doing with
00:04:20that uh the front foot well the front foot's right in there yes it is and tim winspoon is slipping
00:04:25slipping in and letting the jab go you call that a slip jab scheduled for 12 rounds the wbc rules these
00:04:31are eight ounce gloves ten point must three judges the referee a new thing safety valve can give a
00:04:37standing eight count if he desires oh yes and i i feel a little good about it i talked to suleman and
00:04:43stay in the eight count if the guy's against the rope they take him away from the rope to do the count
00:04:48larry's going for it all obviously with those combination punches stephanie the left hook and holmes
00:04:54has proven his defense over the last 14 title defenses when he has been in trouble angelo he's
00:05:01always had that great condition ability hard to come back he came back something tremendously from
00:05:06a lot of fights got looked like he couldn't get up anymore came up with the right uppercut that
00:05:11won the weaver fight slipping inside to avoid those heavy punches thrown by the champion larry holmes
00:05:20was tim witherspoon of philadelphia attended lincoln university in missouri for a year it's had tough
00:05:26going he's got a brother light heavyweight undefeated in nine that was partially blocked
00:05:32tim's got a very unique way of barking punches he keeps that right hand of his planted
00:05:36on the left side of his jaw a la sugar ray robinson ray robinson should do that all the time and
00:05:41intimidate you your sugar ray leonard wasn't that
00:05:48all right two heavyweights here in the first round
00:05:53trying to decide who's going to take charge
00:05:59temperature now about 70 degrees sun has been out a long time las vegas time 925
00:06:05as we have less than 25 seconds remaining in round one i know tim witherspoon's very happy to be
00:06:10fighting the guy from the book he said he had all kinds of trouble with mr snipes because the way he
00:06:15ran away in his awkwardness witherspoon who has not had a fight in a little uh over a year because of an
00:06:23injury to the jaw and an abscessed wisdom tooth it was snipes that he beat
00:06:28all right he is a quiet friendly 25 year old heavyweight from philadelphia he's having a good time
00:06:40that's eddie aliano and there is slim jim robertson on the left pretty good fighter in his own right
00:06:45great one up underneath your hair you mean you put his left leg up right the left leg up off the
00:06:50floor you hear the right hand over here right okay all right put a little bit more pressure on you
00:06:56keep it running from you you roll that only for right hand tim next time you do it go over the top
00:07:00your left leg up all right i wish you'd see a mouthpiece out there come on i got nothing you got
00:07:04it eddie all right you're rolling okay you roll and you punch at him okay
00:07:08minimum amount of talking but right to the point for the young heavyweight contender all right very
00:07:19good job being done come on up good boy stand up and of course your old nemesis eddie futch in
00:07:25larry holmes's corner not saying too much because the champion a veteran of 42 fights winning them all
00:07:31pretty much at this point knows what to do
00:07:33there again witherspoon blocking the punches coming back with a right of his own
00:07:41listen to those punches it's a real good boxing match really trying to outsmart each other right
00:07:47now larry's trying to suck up in for a right hand counter he's moving that waving that left hand in
00:07:52front of his face he's definitely looking to hit him with a right hand going to the body now is witherspoon
00:07:57he looks so confident talking with him he was so determined had some animosity toward the champion
00:08:04because of a couple of incidents here at the dunes
00:08:13this point early in round two he is not in awe of the champ no he's not he's a well-conditioned young
00:08:19man and he's been well taught and he's doing the right thing he's taking it to larry trying to keep
00:08:24him off balance
00:08:30the old the old story is you get those guys with the the oldish type of fighters the old
00:08:35time you back them up you take their the mobility away from them
00:08:40and again to the body with the right hand and the one to the left was partially blocked
00:08:44round two scheduled for 12 final ballot on this unique boxing doubleheader in las vegas
00:08:52beautiful shot by by witherspoon yes larry tried to count it with a right hand uppercut you're going
00:08:56to see that more often if witherspoon keep throwing it right hand to the body he's going to be counted
00:09:00with the right uppercut larry in a lackluster performance against lucian rodriguez in a coming home
00:09:06championship out looks much better tonight
00:09:10this is the worry about larry because you know you got to get yourself physically and mentally
00:09:14up for a guy you know and he he had a lackluster fight against uh lucian rodriguez by here he is
00:09:19against a guy 15 fights we must pretend so how could he lick me
00:09:28larry moving forward a little bit more now
00:09:32trying with the combination and again caught in the arms or the gloves
00:09:37is that a good idea to drop that left hand witherspoon
00:09:44while he's trying to suck he's trying to sneak in the right hand counter himself
00:09:48he's looking for larry to throw a right hand at him but well
00:09:51thought young man see him block the right hand with an elbow right there
00:09:54all right let's get back
00:10:01less than 30 seconds remaining in round two there have been no knockdowns neither fighter is marked both
00:10:06have landed effective punches beautiful boxing exhibition here
00:10:10i love this this is what you call pure boxing
00:10:16this is absolutely picture book almost
00:10:24the bell in five
00:10:27good right hand
00:10:28that's flush all right as they take that one minute rest let's go to don chevrier
00:10:33all right chris and mike wavers with me here at ringside mike did you know the two judges who
00:10:40called the fight even your fight also called the 15th round even if they had gone the other way for
00:10:45you you would have won it yes i felt that i won the fight because i did all the fighting and the
00:10:52pressure and dokes did all the running and the holding and the thumbing and the hitting low you know
00:10:56i thought i wouldn't fight how do you feel when he says he won't fight you again well i i i
00:11:02expected it because he know he didn't win the fight he know i gave him a tough fight of his career
00:11:07and he know he don't want to take the chance to fight me again so i i don't expect him to give
00:11:10me a rematch i'm gonna have to fight and hope i get one for somebody a lot of us at ringside
00:11:15thought you won you obviously felt you won as well yes i i thought i won it's some somehow
00:11:20i seem to cannot beat the system it's tough sometimes you thought your heart out all right let's
00:11:26go back to chris now witherspoon and home thank you mike and don now round three of a scheduled
00:11:31twelve round heavyweight championship bout on the right in the white trunks with the black trim
00:11:36and with red larry holmes tim witherspoon witherspoon as game as they come
00:11:43i i know that tim witherspoon is trying to take the legs out from larry holmes because the legs have
00:11:48been traveling for a long long time but what he's trying to do is take the legs out from under him
00:11:53and be able to cut him off and hit him some good punches
00:11:55a decided underdog is witherspoon there on the left i've heard he was a seven to one underdog and i
00:12:03remember in 64 being with you in miami calling a fight a 22 year old named cassius clay against
00:12:09sonny liston who's seven to one and he won that's correct and and muhammad muhammad said the same thing
00:12:15that this kid said i got you in the middle of the ring at that time muhammad had won 19 bouts undefeated
00:12:23he was 22 years old tim witherspoon has won 15 undefeated and is 25.
00:12:31so in championship heavyweight boxing anything can happen and chris you got to remember one thing
00:12:37a 12 round route is better for witherspoon because he's been to 10 round route but two more rounds
00:12:42is not going to bother him physically or psychologically in only 15 fights witherspoon
00:12:47has gone 10 rounds twice in his career but now has to go 12.
00:13:00there's that holmes left jab can be punishing the only thing is not landing witherspoon's
00:13:08poppin is good with that right he's got a lot of confusion that right hand to the side
00:13:13cut on the ear that right hand thrown by the champion
00:13:17oh a potty punch dug into the side larry's trying to hit him a right hand counter the danger with that
00:13:23chris is that he's going to get hit with a left hook counter himself from witherspoon
00:13:27with a minute to go angelo dendy uh is what you thought it would be yes i thought this fight
00:13:37going to be a dangerous fight you told me again to the left side of holmes body
00:13:47oh the liver i knew i knew tonight was going to be an excellent night of boxing all the way this
00:13:52was proven that way
00:13:59she had double step that witherspoon gave you call it a stutter step he knocks you off balance with it
00:14:05this is youth that's reflex much faster reflexes than larry home and for the first time with 18
00:14:11seconds to go in the third round witherspoon cut successive stiff jabs can't get lax he walked right
00:14:19into that right hand partial uppercut but comes right back smothering holmes
00:14:29let's go to larry holmes corner eddie futsch bill present and the entourage comes in jake holmes
00:14:37listen to these fans witherspoon said something to the champion he said you want to continue let's go
00:14:43and larry says come on he said okay what's going on there he is 33 year old larry holmes who's
00:14:53just not saying much and when they do it's very soft it's always a soft spoken corner larry holmes has
00:15:20to be very careful he can't let emotion take hold here professionalism's got to take hold because
00:15:25otherwise he's going to wind up take it's a real good shot from this kid who took larry's right hand very well
00:15:35now they're in the middle of the ring
00:15:39under the bright lights before
00:15:41they're in the middle of the ring for thousands of boxing fans
00:15:46holmes now getting more set
00:15:50a little more in a really punching position he's just planting his feet he's looking to get
00:15:54this kid out of there might be a mistake he's got to bounce he's got to move he's got to set this kid
00:15:59up he's got some great moves slim jam robinson is a well-groomed teacher of fight because he was so
00:16:06slick nobody would fight the sucker because nobody could hit him
00:16:11mike russman found that out
00:16:15all right
00:16:19witherspoon does he remind you of any uh heavyweight from the past angelo well i tell you he reminds me a
00:16:26little bit about a young ken norton the way he plants his foot slips plenty of body motion a complete
00:16:33fighter i mean i'm impressed and i was impressed before the fight he's a baby-faced heavyweight
00:16:43i mean i'll tell you whistling got a little bit of archie moore in him too but yes he crossed
00:16:47his arms in front of us he's got larry messed up with this larry's got to watch himself with this
00:16:52kick this kid's gonna nail him what a brilliant job the referee mills lane the district attorney
00:16:57of marshall county in nevada he's doing in this battle letting them work letting them go and that's
00:17:03the way it should be that's two points for us little guys chris does a good job for a little guy
00:17:08i mean he's strong and dictates the patient to fight larry trying to unload that right hand lead
00:17:16measure with the left witherspoon just keeps crossing that right hand above his face counters with a left hook
00:17:27this battle in the rope square in las vegas with a minute to go in round four witherspoon's gonna
00:17:35have to find out he's gonna have to slip away from that right hand of larry's got to go to the right
00:17:39of larry away from that right hand counter
00:17:50they're staying with the range at all times both of them
00:17:56and again as you said he walked right into that right yes he's got to move over to the right side
00:18:01so he wouldn't get counter but larry's a great right hand counter punch and his are damaging punches
00:18:08with his crew got a little damage over his left guy chris yes
00:18:16larry's knockouts and title defensive has usually come in later rounds
00:18:22he uh his earliest was in a third round
00:18:24one over leon spinks in detroit so right now four rounds have been completed with eight to go
00:18:31comfortable temperatures as we go to a lovely lady leandra rally
00:18:36muhammad ali it looks like larry holmes is getting a little bit of a challenge do you agree
00:18:40well yes tim is much better than i thought he was he's got a reach he's as tall as holmes
00:18:47he has no fear no respect his punches holmes's best punch is the left jail he's blocking and standing
00:18:54close he's got to reach himself he can present a problem in later rounds and i would almost make
00:19:01a prediction that the way it looks now holmes don't knock him out tim will win on decision thank you very
00:19:08much muhammad ali tim no doubt thinking of 20 years ago muhammad ali we're going to replay a couple of
00:19:13jabs thrown by larry holmes angelo there's one there's another one yeah slim jim robinson complained
00:19:23that a referee miles lane and told him that he's thumbing tim witherspoon i think that's a mark of a
00:19:29good trainer second making the referee aware there's something going on in there that's right it's a
00:19:35little psyching it's getting your best hold and that's what you have to do when the big men are fighting
00:19:39throw the kitchen sink if you have to anything grab the guy's leg step on his shoes
00:19:48pretty combinations yeah that was a four punch combination the last right hand got in
00:19:58holmes didn't like that shot to the belly comes back with a good right hand
00:20:02i don't think i don't think anybody likes it to the belly mills lane uh asserting his authority
00:20:10when they break break larry's talking to tim witherspoon and said what are you doing that for
00:20:16so there's a lot of metal metal maneuvering in there also angelo i detect an abrasion in the left corner
00:20:23of tim witherspoon's eye no blood flowing but an abrasion bruise that could be created by it by a
00:20:30thumb it could be a punch it could be a lot of things could be a little bit of an elbow because
00:20:35the eyelid is puffed we're in the fifth round scheduled for 12. earlier michael doaks retained his wba
00:20:45world heavyweight championship a draw against mike weaver
00:20:51first time i ever saw larry holmes look in his corner because they're talking to larry and they
00:20:57and me i don't know why he's looking at the corner that's a no-no because you can get nailed a shot
00:21:01when you look at your corner partially blocked all those shots
00:21:05and the more punches you throw angelo the more arm worry you can get as we look ahead in a scheduled
00:21:1412 rounder
00:21:18larry's concerned about this youngster style though he's having problems with it
00:21:21and he's taking four punch combinations to land
00:21:26at 2 19 and a half tim witherspoon from philadelphia on the right
00:21:35he's a contender that believes youth and hunger will overcome in this championship bout
00:21:49no he's doing what he has to do he's taking him to the champion and he's trying to nail him with some
00:21:54punches and he's trying to break kind of a fight because when you're fighting for a car you got to
00:21:58get it and larry holmes left side just above the belt starting to get bruised because that's where
00:22:06witherspoon has leveled a lot of his right hands
00:22:14and look at that move holmes comes to the right and witherspoon comes to his left yes
00:22:19he probably liked the corner like here all right the end of round five and a surprising performance by
00:22:30the undefeated contender from philadelphia tim witherspoon first you're going to see a lot more
00:22:35of what tim witherspoon just did he's a southpaw and he's going to start switching and letting his
00:22:41southpaw stance come into play
00:22:42larry holmes and tim witherspoon another part of the crown affair
00:22:55looking back now at some combinations by the champion larry holmes
00:22:59here they are one two three four punch combination the right the rest right hand got anything yes
00:23:06and there he is perspiring freely here under the lights at the dunes larry holmes worried me that
00:23:14last round he stood up quite a while before he sat down a mark that those body shots are definitely
00:23:20getting to now they're ready for round six mills lane tells him to stay back nearer of the corner
00:23:27now they come out near the center of the ring they've used a lot of it
00:23:31witherspoon on the attack they really gave larry holmes a bath in that corner because his trunks
00:23:40are completely soaked and his body's completely soaked and he's dripping pretty good witherspoon looks
00:23:46as though he's completely dried out great training coming into this bout by jim robinson
00:23:50oh great right hand he missed the great right hand
00:24:03we're in the sixth round and here you see the average rounds per fight holmes an average of seven
00:24:08witherspoon an average of 4.8 they're begging larry to let that right hand go when two this few comes in
00:24:15with that right hand counter is very good for larry holmes
00:24:21there's the jab that larry holmes is famous for and of course as you always point out angelo that's
00:24:27the punch that sets up everything else and again digging that right to the body oh
00:24:31oh
00:24:42holmes who conditioned himself superbly for this bout
00:24:48there's the jab starting to work another one
00:24:53larry holmes may have come in light may have trained very hard very got to be very careful but
00:24:58an older guy you can't over train train yourself because this way you lose all your strength
00:25:10yes what training at 33 years of age well christian what you got to do you got to bide your time you
00:25:15know you got to say it's like the old bull and the young bull take your time don't be in no hurry
00:25:20because you got to get your condition and contain it you can't train like a
00:25:2421 year old kid or a 24 year old kid can you got to abide your training take a day off now and then
00:25:30because you can definitely leave it you got to save it for the fight holmes trying to
00:25:36drop that right hand with the jabs trying to put together combinations but in most cases always
00:25:41not within range round six we're looking at right now
00:25:51another right to the body by witherspoon
00:25:58larry give him a dose of his own medicine he's left the right hand going to the body
00:26:01another shot to the ear
00:26:09larry's used a mahalo ali trick opening up his glove and keeps the guy's head off to the side
00:26:14i like one trade of tim witherspoon he keeps that chin chucked in keeps that target not exposed fully
00:26:21exposed where's larry his chin is right out there okay halfway
00:26:32okay go to the corner of tim witherspoon okay four brothers three sisters a big family
00:26:39you're okay to me but you got to punch at him a little bit more okay
00:26:41not punching at him enough you want to win this here fight okay all right if it goes a distance
00:26:45tell me you got to punch at him more than you're punching at him all right
00:26:47all right all right all right all right 107 around now okay can you fight immediately up
00:26:53him okay you got to take this away from him take it from him take this down and get away from him
00:26:56you got to go show him no mistake okay go show him no mistake all right hands on
00:27:01come on you push it i'm impressed by the alertness of uh the contender witherspoon listening to
00:27:06everything this is robinson is telling him some good advice as we replay there's the left to the body
00:27:12right cut on the ear of the champion backs up and then gets reset again as we get set for the seventh
00:27:19round what's some concern in larry home corner about his side bothering him and they had to go right to
00:27:27work on it snapping away from that long right hand still getting some of it got a good step left jab
00:27:35right there comes back with one of his own very interesting conflict i'm enjoying the maneuvering
00:27:44the way they're trying to outsmart each other and let's see that reach you don't have this one
00:27:49out jab by once in a while when you get in the position again to the body in this manly art of self-defense
00:27:56and let's see what i mean about youth witherspoon's a shade quicker than uh larry holmes larry holmes is
00:28:10missing his counters in several spots you know we point out that witherspoon who's putting on a good
00:28:17show against the champion only 15 fights but won them all he had seven amateur bouts he won six and lost one
00:28:26he's throwing great punches he's really doing some things in there that larry hasn't seen in a long time
00:28:33and that body is taking a tremendous beating that was right on the solar plexus that left hand
00:28:37really really big strong young man mr witherspoon round seven
00:28:46larry is fighting right now for survival just because this kid has given him everything
00:28:53larry catching punches that he normally would not and missing
00:28:56with combinations that he normally lands
00:29:10this is unbelievable
00:29:13champion larry holmes undefeated in 42 fights his hands full here in the seventh round with about a minute to go
00:29:19witherspoon taking everything that the champion comes back with including that right hand
00:29:28sort of rolling away from the punches witherspoon got hurt with a right hand on top of the head
00:29:32chris he reacted where he got a little hurt we've got to be very very careful no shot like that
00:29:37he's trying to put him down and now he's getting much too close getting much too close to the champion
00:29:45with a spooker got very well armed well he's looking for one shot now which is a mistake
00:29:53bring it to me says witherspoon what a battle here 30 seconds to go in the seventh round what a night
00:29:59the crown affair in las vegas couldn't ask for anything more great fight
00:30:05contrasting styles youth versus uh the venerable larry holmes
00:30:09use that word carnival chris got to be careful
00:30:23larry holmes now getting more right hands through
00:30:29more solid punches finding the reins he is upset he is not completely satisfied with his performance
00:30:38look at that determination on this 33 year old's face witherspoon
00:30:46let's look back there's the right hand and that was flushing on the top of the head
00:30:52the champion comes back with his right right hand count
00:30:57and all those punches hurt angelo um are you scoring the fight i got it even i'm not keeping score
00:31:04this is a very close fight uh i think it's up for grabs i think witherspoon i think larry actually
00:31:11is fighting for survival but witherspoon is really putting him to the test now
00:31:19witherspoon has all the confidence in the world i want him i want him and here he can have him in the
00:31:25the eighth round the champion larry holmes on the far side of the ring witherspoon is back to us both six feet three inches tall
00:31:35first meeting first fight for witherspoon and i'm really surprised in a year
00:31:41of course we have a match up here we have aggression i've taken it to a guy you know making the fight
00:31:49he should be getting the point but you know we had a little something like that and we were
00:31:53so we don't know what you know which way to go so i'm a little hesitant but i would say this fight is up for
00:31:59gravity three american judges are scoring it on the 10-point must the referee mills lane does not
00:32:06score and what a great job he is doing allowing these two heavyweights to fire away at will
00:32:17the mark of a great referee chris is when you don't see him those guys that make themselves presentable
00:32:23been bothering badgering far they they don't make good referees that's a good referee he's letting
00:32:28the action cake speak for itself and those others i don't mind talking about when they do a bad job
00:32:34so important 11 knockouts for witherspoon larry holmes and his 42 victories has 30 knockouts
00:32:43there you see the ratio look at that going back to the slipping the sliding routine which is great
00:32:50and his quickness has really taken advantage of larry holmes
00:32:54halfway point now round eight is scheduled for 12.
00:33:03i guess terrible tim is terrible chris it's terribly good
00:33:12only beautifully inside that long right hand
00:33:14they go the south wall switch you know but larry was smart enough to push him down with his hand
00:33:19he's pushing on us
00:33:24all those little tricks add up experience
00:33:36credit must go to the teachers of both fighters yes it's uh almost a lesson what should be done in
00:33:44the ring can't do better than clutch
00:33:51slowing the pace down just a little bit here in the final 30 seconds of round eight there've been no
00:33:55knockdowns only abrasion in the left corner of witherspoon's eye there goes the southpaw stance you
00:34:01did you catch it very smooth
00:34:07i think you'll be doing a lot more of that because he's working on larry switching southpaw
00:34:12larry hasn't fought that many softballs obviously witherspoon's showing us he can take a punch
00:34:17this will be a much needed one minute rest because we've just passed round eight that means four to go
00:34:31here in the second part of a unprecedented world heavyweight championship doubleheader dokes on a draw
00:34:38retaining his title against mike weaver and now witherspoon the number three contender going against
00:34:44the world champion of the wbc larry holmes and that is an overview scene a beautiful shot
00:34:50here in las vegas round nine coming up take that title from him okay you got a bunch more like you did
00:34:58in the age round okay put the pressure on okay put the pressure on okay don't lay outside in too long
00:35:06you don't have fresh air the great cutman eddie aleano doing a very useful job
00:35:16you notice how he acknowledges slim jim robinson what a what a gentleman they have great respect for
00:35:21each other you know you gotta appreciate that good teamwork you work together you scheme
00:35:25yeah you make your move you're thinking and you're one person you're a blend
00:35:35this is such an interesting bout strategy so well planned by both corners
00:35:41that you almost forget to score the fight
00:35:46now he's got holmes moving
00:35:50larry got himself bent got a bat in the corner again larry got hurt with that right yes he did
00:35:55on the side of the head
00:36:05larry's hurt
00:36:05but in the past when he's been hurt he's blinking his eyes now look at him definitely a hard fire
00:36:24with the spoon with the spoon has definitely got the guy all he got to do is take his time he got larry home
00:36:30hurt in bad bad shape and we still have a couple of minutes to go here in the ninth round all with
00:36:36the spoon's got to do is be with the spoon good body shot to made him wince yes
00:36:40and body shots are taking their toes a left hook that caught holmes unguarded coming back with a short
00:36:47right hand that must have hurt witherspoon too because he covered up but oh no great right hand
00:36:52another one great right hand larry holmes is hurt he's out of it yes he is he's out of it oh he's got to go
00:36:59he's out of it
00:37:02we have a minute of 30 to go larry holmes is out of it one more he's going to go down he's out of it
00:37:08but the heart of a champion trying to fight back
00:37:18one minute to go
00:37:20chris you said it so well the mark of a champion and believe me there's nothing there
00:37:25there's nothing there he's got a big mouse under his right our homes
00:37:29fighting under the courage of a winner of 42 straight look at this bombing now by a hurt champion
00:37:37this is this is survival of the fittest of the purest kind
00:37:4335 seconds counted will holmes get off the hook
00:37:51you cannot be saved by the bell except in the last round
00:37:55but look at that condition overcoming
00:38:08great great i don't know it's it's youth that's going to decide this
00:38:12and larry's actually the older guy but he's really hurt him with the score
00:38:16in the corner
00:38:17great great great have you seen anything better great fight round nine what boxing from the dunes
00:38:27in las vegas in the crowd affair
00:38:30angelo we've been covering these bouts together since way back when and i don't know when there
00:38:36was a more interesting ninth round in any heavyweight championship
00:38:39there is one of the punches that got the champion in trouble he immediately went into that clutch to
00:38:51collect himself witherspoon with another and on the left
00:38:56what an attack witherspoon was sort of looking back what he thought was his corner as he just keeps
00:39:01throwing one twos and lift larry sucking it up taking it all out great great fighter
00:39:07great fighter whatever happens in this fight
00:39:12seven to one underdog tim witherspoon
00:39:16the big guys you'll never know all right this is round ten three rounds to go
00:39:23can the older man last can witherspoon keep his cool and not get over anxious make too many mistakes
00:39:30to be knocked out by the champion larry holmes
00:39:35magnificently
00:39:42larry holmes very much at home in las vegas
00:39:44eight title defenses of his 15 right here in this city so he loves the desert
00:39:54now wisely he's starting to do a little lateral movement but he still gets caught
00:40:00not damaging punches but in the eyes of the three judges if they're doing a good job they score
00:40:09the history of witherspoon as a young kid he's a tire in a late round he showed me in the last round
00:40:14he was tired so larry's trying to shock him into a shot by bouncing moving and really hit them with a good punch
00:40:24is there an upset in the making as we are in round ten
00:40:28tremendous tremendous excitement two of the best punches that holmes has thrown in a while
00:40:37look at him now he's up on his toes and moving around which is uh one of the styles of holmes the champion
00:40:43good mouse under the right eye of holmes swollen area with a minute and 30 to go larry's having trouble
00:40:52keeping his mouthpiece
00:40:55larry's having trouble with his mobility but he's fighting the right way now he's starting to get flat
00:41:00the right way now he's fighting the right way now he's fighting the right way now he's going back to the slick style
00:41:13again he's very wise doing that because otherwise he can hit on the chin himself
00:41:16witherspoon who grew up in south philadelphia
00:41:31all pennsylvania battle with larry from easton
00:41:33south philadelphia that's in my hometown i know the dundee we're in round ten
00:41:47coming up to the one minute mark of this round with two men to go
00:41:56and now it's witherspoon flicking that jab
00:41:59oh what a move what a move he just did look at this south ball yeah don't get too cocky
00:42:07no no
00:42:09but he's got the movement he's got the movement
00:42:14and that movement is causing the champion to miss
00:42:17that and perhaps fatigue they have to be tired angelo great fight
00:42:21what do you say to larry holmes now
00:42:28larry gotta get it together you gotta start taking taking the play to this kid
00:42:32out boxing outsmart him with that left hand i know what he wants to settle him down
00:42:40it's a tough thing but and he don't know how much this fight he's got left
00:42:43come on
00:42:56okay
00:42:57keep coming
00:42:59push it push there
00:43:00watch and replay witherspoon connecting with that left keeps throwing the punches keeping
00:43:13the champion off balance now round 11 one to go after this angelo and what you tell your
00:43:22guy in the corner he's a man only six minutes go get it it's the big apple
00:43:27i have it scored so close that we're at round 11 i'm going to give up and enjoy the fight with our
00:43:38viewers no knockdowns yet one of the most action-packed world heavyweight championship
00:43:46fights we've seen two undefeated fights 15 fights witherspoon with his back to us and 42 for homes
00:43:56well i guess everybody said that witherspoon didn't belong here i think they're making
00:44:01they're wondering why why is he in there he's in there because he's a good fighter excellent fighter
00:44:07and now that swollen area under the right eye of larry holmes it is not impairing his vision
00:44:16that was a pretty good left hook thrown by the champion
00:44:19honestly that right hand was very very low lower than normal and it got through
00:44:24those punches on the forehead
00:44:27down on the air and a left hook to the air of homes
00:44:30great left hook
00:44:31that's what he is to convert a shot ball see it right there
00:44:36scoring again he's utilizing utilizing that left hook real well
00:44:41chuck has it herb santos and chuck minker are the three judges
00:44:45scoring this out
00:44:46hurting with a right hook
00:44:47right hook a minute and thirty to go in the next to the last round of this championship
00:44:58holmes now bending at the waist
00:45:01looking for an opening at a one-two but that jab is right in his face by witherspoon
00:45:05that southpaw style that southpaw style is really driving larry crazy if witherspoon goes southpaw completely
00:45:12he'll have larry all over the plate
00:45:16perhaps he'll save that for the 12th and final round a minute to go miss the 11th
00:45:20larry's having trouble holding his mouthpiece there was a good right hand by holmes
00:45:24counter the right hand of witherspoon
00:45:26witherspoon's looking to nail him with a good shot he's slipping
00:45:30witherspoon and all his people figured that holmes the champion was right to be taken
00:45:38you see the difference in jabbing witherspoon's beaten into the jab remember i called the reach
00:45:45is a phony barometer it's the way you got your feet in there the way you set your jab up
00:45:52less than half a minute as we will have ben one round to go and it could very well be the deciding round oh yes
00:46:03two good rights by larry holmes
00:46:08and he has proven again tonight that when hurt he has the ability to come back
00:46:18now that last one minute rest period
00:46:23and larry well now he's going to be seated in the corner eddie foots is talking
00:46:31last round last round should you make your fighter apparent of the last round everybody's worried
00:46:37about witherspoon going you know going 15 instead of 12. it was the best for witherspoon now it's
00:46:42better for larica larry has really had it he's out of gas larry who's going 10 rounds three times 15
00:46:49rounds three times 12 rounds three 11 three whereas witherspoon 10 rounds twice
00:46:55so he is in outer space of boxing now having survived 11. all right
00:47:09home scoring there he's with his back to us and witherspoon countering back with the left hook
00:47:15now three minutes to go here it is watch
00:47:20tim witherspoon a very confident young man
00:47:23he's gonna let it all hang out but he's got to fight his regular style like he's been fighting
00:47:28don't be a club fighter stick move slide be witherspoon
00:47:33chris we can't the track about larry holmes giving everybody a shot that's why i admire about the guy
00:47:45who has fought them all every challenge every test
00:47:49trevor burbick leon spinks ronaldo snipes jerry cooney tex cobb lucian rodriguez his most recent fights
00:47:57it was here in las vegas that he won his championship 1978 in june here he is in las
00:48:04vegas tonight 15th title defense hoping to retain him
00:48:12witherspoon hoping to take it away
00:48:14there he goes i'll tell you he's going south forward jack box right hand box everything
00:48:20two minutes to go in this fight listen to this crowd
00:48:26you really get a heck of a move
00:48:31come on he says come on he says to home taunting the champion and he does
00:48:35a right hand don't drop those hands so it's one round that's it that's
00:48:39keep those hands up do you think now a minute and a half angelo
00:48:43very very important to have to decide hey who's the new heavyweight champion possibly
00:48:51but i think witherspoon has won this fight in my mind but i'm not a judge i keep saying it all the
00:48:57time i would have to agree the three judges from the united states signed by the wbc referee not
00:49:06counting in the scoring but what a sensational job he has done it matches
00:49:10the quality of this championship out mills lane and witherspoon with a minute to go
00:49:18now looking just a tad tired and who wouldn't know he's looking for one shot yeah he's making
00:49:23a mistake he's looking for one big punch
00:49:28and holmes is looking for the same thing yes he is look at that right hand this country ready
00:49:33now the closing 30 seconds surprisingly a back of the hand almost from witherspoon to larry holmes
00:49:53and here's this 25 year old upstart from philadelphia larry's really really out of it he couldn't get his
00:50:06punches together while they were laying there larry does a number on you when you were close
00:50:09it's about over
00:50:26well ladies and gentlemen a standing crowd showing their appreciation in the effort of two well-conditioned
00:50:34heavyweights over the scheduled 12 round distance tim witherspoon reaction from giving it his all and
00:50:43larry holmes going around throwing kisses to the audience a very appreciative champion he won it here
00:50:49in las vegas in 1978 put it on the line for the 15th time tonight and the three judges
00:50:57chuck has it herb santos and chuck minker it is now up to them yes it is they're the ones that
00:51:05got the final say with the pencil and the ring very crowded
00:51:14you really can't get a reaction from larry holmes and watching him
00:51:18how he feels about his performance you know a little bit dejected perhaps
00:51:23larry holmes a true pro he gave it a hundred percent i don't know how he came back and threw
00:51:30the shots i mean he really showed it but you know when you get up in age there a lot of the little
00:51:35things you used to be able to do you can't get through there like i told muhammad after the fight
00:51:41i said muhammad it's not there anymore not there anymore but what we have here is a replay of some
00:51:47more of the combination punches in that last round this loves to go to that left
00:51:54puffing him with the right another left
00:52:01i knew early on i knew early on that he was revert that top horse down it worked very effectively for
00:52:07him i i just have to remember it's 1964 clay and listed well let's see jimmy lennon is ready here is
00:52:17the verdict ladies and gentlemen your attention please in this title box we have a split decision
00:52:37chuck acid of california sees it 118 larry holmes 111
00:52:42tim witherspoon as it voting for larry holmes
00:52:50herb santos season 115 to 114 in favor of tim witherspoon
00:52:59the deciding ballot cast by chuck minker 115 holmes 113 tim witherspoon winner and still heavyweight champion
00:53:11and still heavyweight champion
00:53:15listen to this reaction from the huge crowd a split decision
00:53:19retaining his title in his 15th defense
00:53:23larry holmes in the mind of tim witherspoon he has to believe he won
00:53:29well you can't you got a lot he got a lot of concrete evidence about that
00:53:32uh i think this kind of a fight with a very controversial fight yes and i always state i'm not
00:53:38a judge all right we're going to be back to talk to the winner here at the dunes in las vegas but first
00:53:46let's take this pause after a great fight
00:53:56larry he must have really given you a bad scare in terms of retaining the championship tonight this
00:54:01kid fought awfully well against you oh yeah he didn't give me a bad scare but he caught me with
00:54:06some good shots and i knew he thought he had me he hurt me a little bit but i know where i was at all
00:54:11time the guy's a good fighter he's a strong fighter and i see a lot of potential in this guy he's going
00:54:16to go a long way did he give you more than you expected oh yeah he gave me more than i expected
00:54:20he get usually get tired four or five rounds but this guy he fought today fought his heart out
00:54:25he wanted the title that's something i expected i expect these guys to come out and fight hard
00:54:29but i didn't expect the hard fight like i got tonight well you fought everybody you've taken on
00:54:33all comers but lately you've taken on a couple of guys that weren't in tim's class
00:54:37did that affect you did that hurt you well probably it hurt me a little bit but what the
00:54:42heck i'm a champion i give all fighters an opportunity just like i gave tim with a spoon
00:54:46opportunity people say he didn't deserve it but he's there he got the shot and we created a lot
00:54:51of interest a lot of excitement a lot of people don't agree with the decision but like i went over
00:54:55to tim i said you lost he's yeah i know so he's a good so he's a good man he won't be lost and uh
00:55:01uh he accepted it and uh now now with the crowd kind of changes his mind about it but uh
00:55:09he uh fought a good fight and he's i he deserved a lot of credit i want to talk to tim in a moment
00:55:14but the referee came over and told me after the fight he thought that tim really hurt you in the
00:55:17ninth round right over here in this corner he hurt me he dazed me but he didn't really hurt me uh he
00:55:23knocked me off balance a few times hit me some good shots but i was holding on i wanted this guy to
00:55:27punch himself out because he got a tendency of fading early but he fought good and he had a
00:55:32little bit more like i said than i thought he had i have nothing to be ashamed of i fought a good fight
00:55:37i'm a champion i won my title i kept a title this man gave a good fight so that's all that really
00:55:42mattered tell me larry what's your corner said you're going to the final round they say all you
00:55:46have to do is stand up they say you won all the rounds and just keep fighting keep boxing
00:55:52point piling up don't point you ahead and that's what i did and you're still champion congratulations
00:55:5843 on thank you very much thank you people around the world thank you all right thank you larry
00:56:04tim do you want to slide in here please
00:56:08tim you really did shock the world tonight and just came up short in terms of the victory you said
00:56:14you were going to do it a lot of guys at ringside think you did win it right i think i won
00:56:18i was positive through the whole fight i hurt him every round and i think uh he got the decision
00:56:24because he has a big record and uh everybody respected him as a champ but i beat i think i beat
00:56:29every round i was blocking most of his jabs he was thumbing and that's that's it i feel i won i'm in
00:56:37good shape i feel good i'm not breathing hard and it just totally robbed me i'm sure did you think
00:56:42that you were going to take him out for a while there on the night right but uh he came back he was
00:56:46hurt in every round but he's going to make excuses about he wasn't hurt and that that i i agree with
00:56:52him that he won i knew all the way that i won i thought i won the whole fight mike weaver at ringside
00:56:56said he felt you won definitely right and not only him the whole the whole arena thought that i won
00:57:01you know the whole world i'm sure when i go home i feel good about the fight i don't feel that i lost
00:57:06that's why i'm not proud of him i'm smiling and that's all too i want to rematch i thought he was more
00:57:11than what he was and he's really not and i want to rematch so i can knock him out you think you'll
00:57:16get one i don't know i think he won't give me one i think he's going to retire but i'm going to be the
00:57:20champ eventually i'm not i'm not ashamed and i know that people back home is not ashamed of me or
00:57:25all over the world all over you know what you're right i think you are going to be the champion right
00:57:29very soon right and this this is a warm-up fight for me for the for the future champ i'm going to be the
00:57:34next heavyweight champion in the world because can't nobody stop me all right i'm totally happy
00:57:39i'm not ashamed because i felt as i wanted well many at ringside thought you did a tremendous
00:57:44effort congratulations all right thank you very much all right good luck in the future and this
00:57:48man indeed is a tremendous future tim witherspoon who came very close to dethroning larry holmes
00:57:53tonight now let's go back to chris well a confident defeated contender in his 16th bout and no doubt
00:58:03down the road uh angelo dundee his future is bright and um what did you think of the decision
00:58:09well you know you're not a judge you're looking at it uh maybe you're rude a little bit you like
00:58:13what the guy's doing in there but i thought it was a heck of a fight i thought larry fought a great
00:58:18fight coming back like he did i thought he was out of it i thought tim was was going to knock him out
00:58:22that round and that was a big round for him uh i'm never going to be a judge but i thought it was a
00:58:28great fight and i think tim witherspoon deserves a shot hey and i can see in the future
00:58:32tim witherspoon maybe weaver of course and how would you like to see one of the greatest rounds
00:58:37we've ever seen in a world heavyweight championship out let's go back to that ninth round of this 12
00:58:44rounder it won well angelo uh one hardly knows what to say because in many of the sports we cover we
00:58:50have subjective judging whether it's figure skating whether it's gymnastics and here in boxing and you
00:58:55know uh what makes a boxing match in a horse race is a difference of opinion so we had that in the
00:59:00decision of the holmes witherspoon fight a split decision chris before you and i were born they
00:59:05say it's in the eyes of the beholder yes and then when the air is human those guys are looking through
00:59:10their eyes and you're looking through your eyes so we can't prejudge people they saw it that way
00:59:15and they're good judges they've been judging all over for a long time they got good experience i'd like
00:59:20to repeat the scoring chuck hassett of california 118 to 111 for holmes herb santos of reno 115 to 114
00:59:29for witherspoon and then uh chuck menker of las vegas 115 to 113
00:59:36for the eventual winner defending uh his title for the 15th time successfully lorry holmes angelo great to
00:59:42be working with you and thanks again and uh thanks goes to my colleague don chevre and our motion picture
00:59:49star lou gossip uh ray boom boom mancini the wba lightweight champion of the world and of course
00:59:56pretty eyes our ringside celebrity reporter leandra riley so we've had two great bouts two questionable
01:00:03decisions dokes defeating weaver holmes coming on to keep his title against witherspoon good night
01:00:12the crown affair has been brought to you by budweiser proud sponsor of golden gloves the usa
01:00:21amateur boxing federation and the u.s boxing team for all you do this buds for you
01:00:42is
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