Where Are They Now? Boxing Heavyweight Champion Tim Witherspoon

Pullian we’re kicking it together at the action martial arts Hall of Fame a weekend saying alongside two-time world heavyweight boxing champion Tim Witherspoon. We are here promoting bullying we’re kicking it Tim is being some great fans from across the country Tim. How’s your hall of honors experienced rhenium. Oh, really good. It’s really nice all that energy all electricity flying around everybody smiling. I’m looking for it all ready to come back next time. So, it’s been a while since lot of people have seen you people have you wondering? What are you up to these days? Oh, well. Yeah, I haven’t been fighting for a while, but what I’ve been doing is of China or will not mean a lot of other people trying to organize some type of Union for boxing we’re the only sport that doesn’t have support when you retire and we have a lot of former boxer passed away to have him, you know, they couldn’t bear it itself.

There’s a lot of issues after your boxing career is over. And so, I’ve been involved with some groups of that’s trying to eliminate the struggle for boxers when their careers over. So the boxing organized committee of the PLC is one of them. That’s doing it, but you have several other fundraising communities. That’s trying to help former boxers out. That’s a fantastic cause and we’ve seen over the years, it’ll be a boxing MMA or even pro wrestling getting something unionize or playing past or even like healthcare for former NFL players. It’s like pulling teeth. Do you think we’re getting to the point now, where there’s more aware than education where that can become a reality down the road.

Yeah. Yes, it is, you know, we have to teach our young box and we also have to teach some courtesy to be courteous. We also have to show them. How when they get money to do the right thing with their money. We have to get three at the site at the bottom and get them ready. So it won’t be no embarrassment when they get when they get to the point where I got so, there’s a lot of if this is what you’re saying. There’s a lot of organizations, we’re trying to do that we’re trying to start that young we’re trying to take care of the middle and the people that’s retired.

We’re trying to do that. So we don’t have to go through these type of things. So, yeah, I think it’s very important that we get there’s a mature it started out there first. We can’t leave them out because they’re the future of the sports that we’re in for sure. And the heavyweight division is experienced a bit of a renaissance in recent years Anthony Joshua Deontay Wilder rematching Tyson Fury that fight can go either way anthe Joshua got his world title back from Andy Ruiz? What are your thoughts in the overall state of the division right now? Well, the thing is I’ve been I have been going to England for the last 15 years staying like six months at a time five months training doing events and stuff.

And I met Anthony Joshua. I also was that events my son port my son put on Deontay Wilder cards. So I had been I’ve got some experience going around in the last 10 years meeting these guys and I, you know, I don’t think that use actually media the state of is right? There’s more money now than it was when we the boxes are getting paid more money than we then we were getting, but the talent and the skills are not matching up they’re not matching up the way to where we were so and a lot of the old teachers has passed away. And if you didn’t get that knowledge.

He’s kind of like a struggle. I was fortunate to have a trainer slim Jim Robinson who taught me a lot of things a lot of good things in the ring and off out out of the ring and I’m a lot of these young boxers a day don’t have that they went. Okay, the build-up to the fight. It’s beautiful all the ads all the promotions, you know, all the money they’re getting way more money, but soon as that bell ring. I get disappointed because I don’t see just the talent the styles that I used to see where the fans appreciate. So, you know, it’s just not matching up and so the young boxers today are not doing the things that we did and then we got to find a like changing some of the history some of the education of what we were taught, you know, like guys they take their hands and they take their lead hand and be out there touching like this, right?

And I, you know, they go like this and they put the hand like that and they jump back and stuff like that. And I think they do that because it’ll act defense. They’re not aware of their opponent or what they’re going to do. And I think they do that. And I think that came from Europe they keep putting their hands like that the feel if you can do this, you can get a point. So, when I see that I said, why are you touching them. If you have to touch your opponent. You can get a point. So, that’s just some of the things that I think that you know, that’s going on today with these younger guys and I really started campaigning to be a trainer because I know I got knowledge.

I know I could help I tried to help get a job at Hampton eat I saw when I was in English an ice kid. He helped me on the train with my daughter and my daughter’s from England she lives with me in America. So, I tried to get a job with him cuz he’s a nice kid, but he’s missing out when he retired. He won’t be able to train nobody because he’s limited even though he made all of me and millions I’m thinking about his skills. He can do a lot better if they bring somebody in to just help him just a little bit maybe that person is you now is there someone else trying I was trying well.

Is there somebody on the scene right now that kind of reminds you of you or some of the guys you fought in the past me, but it’s like kind of like a throwback fighter anybody that’s close? No, not really there’s some imitation styles that a lot of these boxes a lot of boxes. They try to duplicate some of the stuff that we did some of them have do it and it’s just it to me is just fade in a way. It’s like some type of new era coming in far as talent and fire his skills, you know. So I was in between. I wasn’t well after Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier that ever was George Foreman and everybody we are like lot of the boxes.

We were learning from older trainers training good trainers back then and like I said before if you didn’t get that education or that knowledge from them. We lost and it’s during these days and you can see with the way some of these boxes fight that may be the European style is taking over because they’re doing stuff. They bounced around a lot and when they don’t really have to and their partner with the jab what Sweden where I’ll never was taught to do that. And I think they do that because like I said before then that day they’re scared to get hit or I don’t know the technique is just odd just doing that it looks pretty but you can get a lot done not doing that if you could touch somebody you can even get a point.

So, I’m just saying that it’s not the same as when we were fighting. Well, do you have any predictions for wilder and fury -. Well, you know what I do think that somebody told me that Wilder got knocked out and training recently. I don’t allows true. That is but if he had Tyson Fury if he hit Tyson Fury cipher. He’s gone. I do believe it’s Tyson Pro you can punch suka Zelda pass with them in Ireland. He got punched, I believe of he hit Wilder Wilder can go, but my thing is his dad when that bell rings. I’m going to see the same fight, as I saw before I’m not really because I know a lot of things.

I don’t know everything, but I know a lot of things. I’m going to be disappointed that he’s two fantastic boxers are stepping in the ring the build-up for the fight was really beautiful and soon as the bell ring, we’re gonna see amateurs, we’re gonna see an amateur Styles. If I didn’t know box and I probably would enjoy it because I was heavyweight champion world. I learned a whole lot of things I can talk really good compared to a lot of my mates that my friends that were in the boxing game. There’s a lot of my friends and I feel sorry for them some passed away some Sahir.

They can’t communicate they can’t walk walk with a stumble. I really appreciate me. Having a good trainer. But when that bell rings. I get disappointed. But the hype the crowds the people that don’t know really the sport that love boxing. They enjoy it. But me as a former two-time every champ in the world. I get disappointed and then I try to enjoy the fight one time I just walked away from the fight when they had that fight around the sixth round. I said, I got bored, but the air is boxing fan put another average boxer maybe two people dead that note that’s watching anyway. They’re gonna enjoy it.

But me knowing a lot of stuff is not going really I’m not gonna really enjoy the fight. I think that it a lot more today they’re gonna bring to the table if they change or bring bring get somebody to help train them learn a couple of things. You don’t have to learn 20 there’s three or four things that help them, you know what I’ll tell you what we have enjoyed our time with you. You’re a true legend in the sport. Before we let you go, where can fans find you online? Well, online, I’m on Facebook Tim Witherspoon Timothy Witherspoon on my email there’s Tim Witherspoon at medCom.

I really haven’t really implied myself, you know, with the boxing after my career was over, but then I thought about say, you know what? I’m a really good trainer. I can talk really well I can make a lot of champions. So now I’m trying to really force the issue I want to start those training people the name of our group is going to be the Raiders it’s in Witherspoon Raiders of boxing and I’m going to try to build a squad and try to make a lot of people happy.