Big John Tate-Hero for a Day

I figured, I've pretty much written about all the major heavyweights of the 80's, haven't I? But there is actually one that I haven't yet written about and that is John Tate. He was actually the world champion at the very beginning of the 80's and briefly, losing his crown in March 1980 to Mike Weaver. Though he fought, on and off, until 1988, his career never recovered after that loss and also the one in the next fight to Trevor Berbick, which was an upset ko loss as well. Tate had all the physical gifts a boxer can wish for; at 6'4 he was tall for a boxer of that time, had a reach of 80 inches, a splendid and muscular physique and could box and punch. However, like with SO many other American boxers of his time and after, he developed a Cocaine addiction which ruined it all for him. It also contributed to cut his life short and Tate died at only 43. Here is his story.

Big John was born January 29 1955 in Marion, Arkansas, and grew up in West Memphis in the same county. He won the 1975 and 1976 Golden Gloves and took part in the 1976 Olympics, where he was beaten in the semi-final by Teofilo Stevenson, getting knocked out in 1 round by the legendary amateur. Thus, he went home with a bronze medal. He also beat future world champions Michael Dokes and Greg Page in the amateurs and finished his career there with a record of 50-7. Tate relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he would live the rest of his life and embarked on a pro career, having his first fight on May 7 1977 and winning by TKO 5 against Jerry Thompkins. He ran a record of 17-0 with 14 ko's before he had his first serious test against "Great White Hope", the hard-punching Duane Bobick, February 17 1979 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Bobick had a record of 48-2 but Tate easily dispatched him by a first-round TKO after 2 minutes and 15 seconds. In his next fight he beat the South African puncher Kallie Knoetze by TKO 8 and then received his first world title shot in his 20th pro fight against another South African: Gerrie Coetzee. Coetzee was likely the best heavyweight that country ever had and he was a good technical boxer with power. He was also undefeated at 22-0 and had knocked out Leon Spinks in 1 round in his previous fight. The match was for the WBA title and held at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, which was criticised by many due to the apartheid. It was 20 November 1979 when Tate entered history by taking over the belt that Ali himself had vacated by outpointing Coetzee over 15 rounds. The canvas were slippery and Coetzee slipped down twice. Tate's knees were buckled by a Coetzee right hand in round 3 but he quickly recovered. The fight was even until after round 11, when Coetzee seemed to tire and Tate took over and in the end pounded out a unanimous decision victory. However, before the fight, he drew the ire of Larry Holmes for fighting in SA and Holmes called him a "robot", suggesting he had no pride or personal political opinion. However, he earned 400 K and went home with the WBA belt in his possession.

His first defense was set for March 31 next year and at home in Knoxville, at the Stokley Athletics Center. It seemed like a perfect first defense and indeed, the night began promisingly for Tate, as he took on the shorter but very strong and hard-hitting, as well as determined, Mike Weaver. Weaver had not long ago given Holmes a hard fight but ultimately lost it by late stoppage, so here he was determined not to leave without a belt. Ali himself was slated as Tate's next opponent but he never got that far. Tate took control with his superior boxing skills and he also weighed almost 25 pounds more than Weaver. For the first 10 rounds, Tate was firmly in charge and outboxing Weaver. After the 10th however, Weaver started to turn it up and started landing some big punches and pushing the champion back. As the bell sounded for round 15, Weaver knew he needed a knockout. Tate made a mistake by trying to trade with the dangerous puncher Weaver, edged on by the home crowd. So, the unthinkable happened: with less than a minute left, Weaver first hit Tate on the side of the jaw with a right hand lead and then nailed Tate with a perfect left hook and down went Tate, unconscious and unable to beat the count. That was farewell to everything for Tate. The unofficial Associated Press scorecard had Tate up by 137-132 after 14 rounds. He was rushed towards another bigger fight too soon, it turned out. He went to Montreal to fight the Canadian-based Jamaican Trevor Berbick. Of course, Berbick later himself became a WBC champion. It was less than 3 months after the Weaver fight, June 20, and Tate was doing alright until round 9, when he was hit by an overhand right in the beginning of the round. He then turned away from Berbick and Berbick chased him across the ring and landed a barrage that sent Tate crashing face first into the ropes. That was it.

Even though he made a comeback in early 1981, his star had burned out already and he would never fight another major fighter again. He won 10 fights between 1981 and 1983 but then retired, before coming back in 1986. His Cocaine addiction made him fall out with his manager Jerry "Ace" Miller and his economy suffered because of it as well. His estate worth dropped from 300 K in 1983 to 200 K in early 1988. He retired after losing a decision to the unpolished puncher Noel Quarless of England in York Hall, London, March 30 1988. His career had showed so much promise and it bottomed out like rarely anyone else's in the sport. After retirement, his increasing addiction led to temper problems and he was arrested once for breaking a man's jaw in Knoxville, 1993. His sad existence came to an end on April 9 1998, when he was driving a pickup truck and suffered a stroke caused by brain tumor, which made him pass out and crash into a utility pole, which killed him. He was 43. His record is 34 (23)-3.

He was a hero for a day, or more precisely-4 months. It seems getting knocked out so late by a puncher as hard as Weaver definitely took something away from Tate, shortened his prime. I guess it does take one punch sometimes, as they say...otherwise, Big John Tate had all the necessary gifts to become a star and it would have really been interesting to see him fight Holmes. However, knowing that Holmes ducked a rematch with Weaver after he won that title and also never fought Coetzee, the chances of him saying yes to fighting Tate are not the biggest.

http://static.boxrec.com/d/dd/BigJohnTate.JPG

Re: Big John Tate-Hero for a Day

--- Tubby Lar turned down a kings ransom to fight Coetzee in SA. He hated the WBA champs everytime they stole his shine, but wouldn't fight them, one of the mysteries of that era.

Re: Big John Tate-Hero for a Day

--- Tubby Lar turned down a kings ransom to fight Coetzee in SA. He hated the WBA champs everytime they stole his shine, but wouldn't fight them, one of the mysteries of that era.

Yep...he called Weaver a paper champion, I remember reading, but would never fight him or Coetzee or Dokes or Page. He even vacated the WBC belt to avoid Page. And still he gets called a great champion and stuff.