By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Former WBC heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas (43-7-1, 34 KOs) talks to Peter Maniatis about defeating Tim Witherspoon for the WBC heavyweight crown, defending successfully against Mike Weaver, losing the world title to Trevor Berbick, being stopped by Mike Tyson, and what a great man Angelo Dundee was.
TIM WITHERSPOON
(Pinklon Thomas outpointed Tim Witherspoon by twelve round majority decision to capture the WBC championship on August 31, 1984 in Las Vegas)
“It was a classic bout man against Tim Witherspoon. He had trainer Slim Jim Robinson from South Philly. My trainer was George Benton from North Philadelphia. They had both fought each other in the amateurs. They both had that Philadelphia style. I wanted to display Georgie Benton’s skills. I am sure Tim wanted to display Slim Jim Robinson’s skills. I wanted to outclass him, outbox and outmaneuver him. I did it. I did that in the ring, but outside the ring, me and Tim were great friends.”
MIKE WEAVER
(Pinklon Thomas defends the WBC heavyweight crown successfully by stopping Mike Weaver in eight rounds on June 15, 1985 in Las Vegas)
“Weaver had knocked out Big John Tate in the last thirteen seconds of the fifteenth round of their fight. Mike fought Larry Holmes. I think Larry won in round thirteen. Mike was one helluva puncher. He had great conditioning. Mike had all the muscles and that was very intimidating. I had to bite the bullet. I had to have more heart than experience to get through what I had to get through. To get to where I wanted to go. That’s what pushed me through – my heart and my left jab. That came natural.”
TREVOR BERBICK
(Trevor Berbick outpointed Pinklon Thomas over twelve rounds to capture the WBC heavyweight crown on March 22, 1986 in Las Vegas)
“There was a lot going on that time. It was a political move. A political move I don’t want to really get into. Me and Berbick, we were the only ones that weren’t connected to Don King. I think about a week before the fight they got to Berbick. Who do you think they are going to go for if it goes the distance? I am not saying I should have won the fight no matter what. I think the fight was close. I wasn’t stressed out. I was world champion. I think if I was in the clique – I would have held my title.”
MIKE TYSON
(Mike Tyson stopped Pinklon Thomas in round six to retain the WBC and WBA heavyweight crowns on May 30 1987 in Las Vegas)
“Mike came out strong like he always does. After the second round, I gained control. I wasn’t getting hit. I was using the jab. Third round was even. Fourth I think I won. The fifth I pulled off to. Something happened. My gloves split. I was going to take Tyson to the cleaners. Another two or three rounds I would have got him. Unfortunately, my gloves split. They had to cut the gloves off. It took ten minutes to get another set of gloves. I was really frustrated and upset. I had a broken right shoulder. I couldn’t hold my right hand up. I got hit with seventeen unanswered punches and I went down. I knew I had to get back up and I didn’t want to be counted out. I couldn’t continue. I did get back up. That’s the way that fight went. Only me and Mike Tyson and the Lord knows what was going on in that fight. Mike today is not like the person he was when he was fighting. Mike is a better person now. I love Mike now. I have a lot of respect for Mike.”
ANGELO DUNDEE (Pinklon Thomas’ trainer)
“Angelo was my trainer, my mentor, and my dad. He was everything man. He was a guy I could call in the morning or night. He introduced me to everybody. Told me I was “the Greatest.” I said no – Ali is the greatest. He said no you are the greatest because you changed your life when you cleaned up and got off drugs. Learning how to live again and doing the right thing. He was a humble guy. I learned so much from Angelo. I still miss that old man.”
I would love more of these interviews on this site.
PINKY!
Boy, the memories and I do recall Thomas in the 1980s. Great era for boxing!
Truth. OMG where did all that time go to. Very humbling getting older. I can’t imagine being a world class athlete and father time takes it away.
Seems like just yesterday
What a great interview. Thanks for posting it. Very interesting perspective about those fights from Pinklon, as well as his thoughts on Dundee, and the shady politics surrounding Don King. Thomas was a better fighter than Berbick.
May have been a better fighter but he let Trevor out punch him all fight. Pinky was busy trying to be an R&B singer at the time. Also he was kept out of the ring too long. 9 months after winning the belt he fights Weaver. Then 9 more months before Berbick
Met Pinlon at a amateur event then again at severa pro shows here in C Fl. always gracious and willing to chat, always impeccably dressed. I always thank the Champ for his contributions to the sport.
I met him at a fight card in South Florida in the early to mid 90s. He, along with Trevor Berbick, and a local fighter by the name of Melvin Lewis were in attendance for a fight card which was headlined by Donald Stokes vs. Jose Rivera. Thomas was pretty much what you described. Nice guy.
Also met Pinklon many times here in central Florida. Absolutely a great guy, very engaging and a total class act
That was like a 2 minute 40 second break between rounds 5 and 6 to change out the left glove of Thomas. So he just got an extra minute 40 seconds instead of just a 1 minute break. And it should have been a benefit to get one new left glove for Thomas. Anyway, Tyson had said in an old interview for Ring magazine he was just out there for that fight, was probably galavanting out with some chicks before the fight. Maybe the Thomas from late 85 or early 86 would have beaten Tyson before the Berbick fight. Thomas a fighter of early 80s to mid 80s, wonder if he would have beaten Frank Bruno.
He would have comprehensively out boxed Bruno and won a wide decision. Pinky’s left jab was top notch. When on point he was one of the better heavyweights of his era.
Vs Tyson. As mentioned it was a 2:40 break between rounds instead of 1 minute. 1 glove, not two. And it was a 10 count. Thomas on the rise, but counted out while trailing badly on the official cards.
And if you had HBO in those days it had a prime Tyson vs Thomas without ppv
Yes that’s the point here ! Back in the day’s you could watch boxing almost for free !!
Great interview…need more of that stuff… particularly from a fighters perspective…good stuff!!!
LOOK I JUST RE-WATCHED THE WHOLE FIGHT VIA YOUTUBE… AND THOMAS IN MY ESTIMATION WON ROUNDS 2-3-4-5 THEN THE SPLIT GLOVE AT THE END OF ROUND 5… LOOK DUNDEE KNEW HIS MAN WAS TIRED SO HE GOT HIM SOME EXTRA TIME.. NOW WEATHER THAT SPLIT GLOVE WAS MADE TO SPLIT OR IF IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED DOES NOT MATTER… FACT IS THOMAS RAN OUT OF GAS AND IF YOU WATCH THE FULL FIGHT YOU’LL SEE THOMAS’S JAB IS STARTING TO WEAKEN AFTER THE 3RD ROUND… THAT’S FOR NOT BEING IN SHAPE THAT HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN….KO 6TH ROUND… AND THIS IS CHIPPERRRRR
Pink was doing well in the fight but mainly because that doofus Kevin Rooney told Tyson to box. When Mike opened up Pinky got a bad clubberin
Pinklon was older but Tommy Absolutely schooled him and knock him the fuck out
I saw Pinklon fight some bozo named James Smith in Demopolis, Alabama Aug. 8, ’92., in the Demopolis high school gym. Probably safe to say that Pink had his better days behind him then, though I noticed on BoxRec he had two more shots at some 10 cent titles, drew in one, lost the other. Smith, at the time, had a record of 0-2-0 w/2 KOs. He ended his career at 0-3-0 w/3 KOs. Pink stopped the guy in the first with a body shot, which wouldn’t have hurt me at that time. Pinklon did look slick in his pink trunks though.
Pinklon fought out of Pontiac MI. Basically a smaller, rural, version of Detroit. About 40 mins north of the motor city.
Pinklin had no chance against a prime Tyson. Maybe if he was in his own prime he may have carried his lead into the 8th or 9th or maybe even the 10th rd but no way he was going to win that fight.
Interesting interview. Pinklon was a superb boxer puncher and one of the better of the numerous guys that held alphabet titles in the 80’s before Tyson unified the belts.
Pinklon gave alot of excuses for his losses in the interview. Not surprisingly most boxers do- their bravado and fighting heart is what makes them good fighters it’s also makes it difficult to admit defeat.
Pinklon was his own worst enemy. Other than Tyson and a prime Holmes Pinklon couldve beaten anyone else. Pinklon got into hardcore drugs and was more interested in living the high life than training and boxing.
He did clean up but it was too little too late. There was some interest in his comeback but he just didn’t have “it” anymore.
He was one of my favorites back then. Super frustrating to watch it slip through his hands.
Wow, God bless him. He was blessed to have Dundee in his life.
This is what Pinklon says: “It was a classic bout man against Tim Witherspoon. He had trainer Slim Jim Robinson from South Philly. My trainer was George Benton from North Philadelphia. They had both fought each other in the amateurs. They both had that Philadelphia style. I wanted to display Georgie Benton’s skills. I am sure Tim wanted to display Slim Jim Robinson’s skills.”
What is Pinklon talking about? Witherspoon was trained by Aaron Snowell in this fight and Pinklon himself was trained by Dundee. Scratching my head on this one.
Touching remarks about Dundee. A crazy, brutal world but with real people in it.