Yesterday, we looked at rounds 1-6 of the controversial 1983 heavyweight title fight between champion Larry Holmes and challenger Tim Witherspoon. Today, we move on to the second half of the fight.
Let's get right to it...
ROUND SEVEN
“Something got into Tim this round. He came rumbling forward tossing bombs, and did some bruising work early. Holmes came right back, like he always does and banged some hard shots of his own. More damage was done in this round than in the previous six combined. Tim did a little more though.” - LP
“Both men nutted up and put forth their best out put of the night. Tim's body work is thudding and he landed the harder right hands. Very close round, but I gave it to Spoon.” - ML
“I had Witherspoon well up at the half way point. He’d landed a couple nice body shots, and did some good work upstairs as well, and was really taking it to Holmes. But he did nothing for the next minute, and Larry came on very strong, and landed a number of clean hard shots. Real tough one to score, but I thought Larry actually did enough over the second half to come back and win it.” – AF
ROUND EIGHT
“It is jabs vs. heavy body shots to start. Which do you prefer? Larry also threw in some holding to mess with Tim. I gave him the round because over the second half, he was more effective.” – LP
“Tim landed some solid shots to the body but Holmes worked his one-two from the outside. This one could have gone either way, but I preferred Larry’s work.” - BM
“Both men take a little bit of a break after the action of the last round. Witherspoon's best punch here is another right hand to the body that made Larry wince. Larry lands a number of stiff jabs. Witherspoon did some good body work at the end. Witherspoon edged it, I think he did more damage.” - MN
“Both fighters seemed to be content with taking a rest, and neither made a real attempt to grab the round.” - AF
ROUND NINE
“One of the best rounds I have ever seen in a heavyweight championship fight. Larry is wobbling around, but he just refuses to let anyone get the best of him and out of nowhere he tags Witherspoon with a sword of a right hand out of the corner. Get's a huge reaction out of me every single time. This is caveman stuff and I love it!!” – LP
“A right hand to the body dropped Holmes' guard and set him up for a clubbing right over the top that stunned him. A hard left hook to the body followed by a right hand further staggered him. About half way through the round, Larry was getting bombed in the corner and it looked for a second he was close to getting stopped. Angelo Dundee, commentating on the fight, is going wild. Witherspoon punches himself out and Holmes, showing legendary heart, nails him with several right hands in the final minute of the round, even hurting him at one point. Clearly Witherspoon's round, but a classic.” - MN
“WOW! Holmes never ceases to amaze me with his balls. People don't talk about it enough. The dude was practically out on his feet and clearly won the last minute of the round. It wasn't enough for the round, but it gave me wood. War both of these guys.” – ML
ROUND TEN
“Not flashy but the experienced Holmes shows why he kept his crown for 20 defenses in this round. He used some nice movement to blunt Witherspoon`s momentum.” – BM
“Witherspoon looked like he was resting on his laurels this round. He followed the champ around, but didn’t let his hands go. Larry didn’t do a whole lot of punching himself, but I think landed enough jabs to win it. It was close though.” - AF
“Larry comes out on his toes like nothing happened. Flicking his jab and Spoon was defending most of them. Tim flipped the script a bit at the end of the round. But he caught a couple of rights before the bell.” - ML
ROUND ELEVEN
“Holmes did some good early work, but Witherspoon took the play away with some very heavy punches that seemed to hurt the champ. Not much happened after that so I had to give it to Spoon.” – LP
“Holmes started well, but Witherspoon came on strong in the middle of the round, and I had the challenger up with a minute to go. Larry came on towards the end and made it close, it wasn’t enough.” - AF
“Spoon got a little lazy, and Holmes took advantage. The Easton Assassin landed some good solid right hands, and takes it on my card with his activity and straight punching.” - BM
“Holmes is snapping Witherspoon's head back with his patented jab. He mixes in a clean left hook. Witherspoon lands some nice left hooks himself. The round tightens up in the final minute as Witherspoon starts landing his own jab. Holmes round based on the first half.” – MN
ROUND TWELVE
“Tim begins the round with two nice shots to the body that backs Holmes off. Holmes circles him and jabs. Witherspoon gets on his toes and starts throwing flashy jabs and right hands, missing most of them but slipping in a left hook to the body. Holmes lands a right to the head, Witherspoon lands another left to the body. In the last minute, Holmes snaps off a number of clean jabs, but Witherspoon lands two big left hooks. The bell rings and Witherspoon raises his arms as Holmes walks back to his corner, looking completely spent. Witherspoon edged the last round, and the fight.” - MN
“I thought that Larry worked harder, and landed more over the first two minutes. Witherspoon was doing his dancing, but other than a couple body shots, he hadn’t really done a whole lot of punching. Then, he landed a couple nice left hooks, and a short time later, a nice right hand. They were the hardest punches of the round, and were enough to sway it in his favor.” - AF
“Great final round. Both guys are spent and they throw on guts alone. This was another very close one. I shaded it to Witherspoon on the basis of the two massive left hooks he landed towards the end of the round.” - ML
“Tim has a solid beginning, but I thought Larry Holmes gutted out the final round. While he didn't land the heaviest blows, he worked harder and landed more punches.” - LP
“Spoon blew the fight in this round. His dancing did nothing and it was a premature celebration. He needed this round. Holmes worked the whole round. Tim landed one good punch but he didn’t do enough in my opinion.” - BM
The official judges scorecards favored Holmes by a split verdict.
Chuck Hassett: 118-111 Holmes
Herb Santos: 115-114 Witherspoon
Chuck Minker: 115-113 Holmes
The Boxing Bulletin's judges had Witherspoon winning 3-1-1.
Lee Payton: 115-114 Witherspoon
Brian McCarraher: 115-114 Holmes
Michael Nelson: 115-113 Witherspoon
Andrew Fruman: 115-115 Draw
Mark Lyons: 115-114 Witherspoon
Let us know how you had it.
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