‘Big’ John Tate made the first title defense of his WBA heavyweight belt on March 30, 1980 in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. It was part of a 5 fight mega card broadcast live on ABC tv. I was glued to my tv as a rare late March blanket of snow covered south Jersey.
Mike Weaver was the challenger that evening,and entered the bout with a mediocre record of 21 wins and 9 defeats. Thus he was the underdog against the young and undefeated heavyweight champ,
The night was going pretty much according to protocol as the 6′ 4″ Tate boxed well and controlled the action almost every round. It was to the point where I almost felt sorry for Weaver, and would be glad to see the 15th round come and end.
But out of nowhere with just 45 seconds left in the last round, Weaver landed a whistling left hook that put Tate down face first and out for the count. His title reign landed for just 6 months, and Mike was the new heavyweight champion of the world. You hear the term, “Never give up!”, and no one lived by that phrase more than “Hercules’ that night, and it paid off royally.
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