![\""Tim](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/NINTCHDBPICT000635141076-e1612806386969.jpg\")
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Tim Witherspoon has told talkSPORT how sparring with Muhammad Ali improved him as a boxer on his way to becoming a two-time heavyweight world champion.<\/p>\n
The American joined Russ Williams and Spencer Oliver to record a new \u2018Fight Of My Life\u2019 documentary, with the series currently airing every Sunday night at 9:30pm.<\/p>\n
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Witherspoon was 16 years younger than Ali and so spent most of his career fighting after ‘The Greatest’ had hung up his gloves.<\/p>\n
However, they did cross over for a brief period towards the end of Ali’s reign, while Witherspoon was learning as a rising young prospect.<\/p>\n
He told Fight Of My Life on talkSPORT: “That was beautiful. I\u00a0sparred with him before the Larry Holmes fight, but I didn’t have that many fights then.<\/p>\n
“Sparring with Muhammad Ali was the greatest asset to me in the beginning of my career.<\/p>\n
“Just coming out of nowhere, leaving university, going into the amateurs (I only had seven amateur fights), then straight to Muhammad Ali.<\/p>\n
“Who can ask for something like that?<\/p>\n
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“It was just new stuff to me and it was really great. And he paid attention to me, he was talking to me a lot when I first started sparring with him.<\/p>\n
“He knew I was from Philly, he had a lot of people affiliated with him from Philly and so he took to me really cool. But he was cool with everybody.<\/p>\n
“He was the greatest of all times, but I just was happy to be around him and learning things from him. It was really great.<\/p>\n
“I’m still dreaming, ‘Wow, I’ve had a chance to be with Muhammad Ali.'”<\/p>\n
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As it happened, the Holmes fight turned out to be one of Ali’s last.<\/p>\n
The ageing legend was beaten up and stopped in ten rounds by the new champion, with many later recognising that Ali should not have entered the ring that night.<\/p>\n
Withspoon added: “When I started sparring with him, I was expecting him to put a whipping on all the sparring partners – not like he wanted to hurt us – but let us know he’s the champ and stuff like that.<\/p>\n
“But during the camp I was sensing something’s wrong. I had an intelligent trainer, ‘Slim’ Jim Robinson, who was always into everybody’s business.<\/p>\n
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“And he would say to me, ‘Tim, something’s wrong, Ali can’t put out, something’s wrong with him, I don’t know what it is.’<\/p>\n
“So when we went to Vegas [for the fight], the sparring partners, the trainers and various other people were in the Dunes Hotel and Muhammad Ali was in Caesars Palace.<\/p>\n
“I was young, I was tired, I just wanted to go home. All the lights and cameras, I wasn’t used to that.<\/p>\n
“So I went over to Caesars Palace\u00a0to try to get my ticket to get out of Vegas. Soon as the fight was over, I wanted to get out.<\/p>\n
“I’m walking down the hall and I heard them and they’re arguing. I went, ‘Woah, somebody’s fighting.’<\/p>\n
“I heard them saying, ‘Oh, he shouldn’t be fighting, he’s sick.’<\/p>\n
“Ali was sitting on the bed, Angelo Dundee was beside him, my trainer was staring at him, Drew Bundini, there was other people in there.<\/p>\n
“And they were arguing about whether he should fight or not.<\/p>\n
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“And I stopped, I said, ‘Oh my goodness,\u00a0Ali\u00a0might not fight.’<\/p>\n
“So I stood there for like another three or four minutes and they were arguing, ‘No, he shouldn’t fight, he’s dehydrated, this and that.’<\/p>\n
“But the fight did go on. After the first round, I knew that he wasn’t gonna win.<\/p>\n
“He was sick when he fought Holmes. When Holmes jumped on him, I said, ‘Wow, something’s really wrong with him.’<\/p>\n
“He was sick, he should’ve never fought.”<\/p>\n
We got injury updates on Frank Nazar and Jason Dickinson yesterday. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs might be missing their best player when they come to town.<\/p>\n
The Chicago Blackhawks are back at the United Center tonight as they host the Eastern Conference-leading New Jersey Devils. Check back in this afternoon for a complete game preview and again late tonight for postgame analysis. Until then, here are some fresh Morning Chirps to hold you over.<\/p>\n
Auston Matthews went to the Leafs dressing room after taking this hit from Zadorov\u00a0pic.twitter.com\/MxVL6cyPNH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tim Witherspoon has told talkSPORT how sparring with Muhammad Ali improved him as a boxer on his way to becoming a two-time heavyweight world champion. The American joined Russ Williams and Spencer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t