‘Big’ John Tate won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division in Montreal in 1976, and had early success as a professional as well. The 6′ 4″ boxer fighting out of Knoxville, Tennessee earned a shot at the WBA heavyweight title in October of 1979 against south African Gerrie Coetzee. John boxed well enroute to a unanimous decision win,and now held the other version of the belt, with the WBC title belonging to Larry Holmes.
By early spring of 1980, Muhammad Ali was back in the news, talking comeback and of a possible fight with John. Any time Ali talked it was big news, but with a scheduled title defense scheduled for March 30th vs, Mike Weaver, any talks of an Ali bout would have to be put on the back burner for now.
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