John Tate

John Tate, known as “Big John”, was an American heavyweight who won an Olympic bronze medal before succeeding Muhammad Ali as the World Boxing Association champion in 1979. Born in Marion, Arkansas, on 29 January 1955, he became closely associated with Knoxville, Tennessee, where trainer Jerry “Ace” Miller directed his development. An orthodox boxer standing 6ft 4in, with a reach of approximately 80 inches, Tate combined considerable physical strength with effective boxing skills. His professional record was 34 wins and three defeats, with no draws and 23 victories inside the distance. His championship reign lasted just over five months, but his rise included substantial victories over leading contenders.

Tate grew up in difficult circumstances in Arkansas and left school early to work, including employment as a migrant fruit picker. He began boxing through the Police Athletic League in West Memphis before developing his amateur career in Memphis. Miller recognised his ability in 1975 and brought him to Knoxville, where Tate worked while training. He won the Memphis Golden Gloves heavyweight championship in 1975 and 1976. BoxRec records an amateur total of 50 wins and seven defeats, including close victories over future professional heavyweight champions Michael Dokes and Greg Page. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Tate defeated Poland’s Andrzej Biegalski and West Germany’s Peter Hussing before losing in the first round to Cuba’s Teófilo Stevenson in the semi-final. He returned with a bronze medal.

His professional debut took place at the Kiel Auditorium in St Louis, Missouri, on 7 May 1977. Tate stopped Jerry Thompkins at two minutes and forty seconds of the fifth round of a scheduled six-round contest. His early matchmaking combined inexperienced opponents with fighters capable of testing an Olympic prospect. He beat the unbeaten Eddie Lopez by majority decision over six rounds at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, and knocked out Lou Esa at the Aladdin in Las Vegas. Appearances in Montreal, Memphis, Knoxville and Orlando gave him experience in different settings. Promoted by Bob Arum, he progressed quickly, fighting eight times during his first professional year.

The opposition became more demanding in 1978. At Madison Square Garden on 22 June, Tate stopped the unbeaten Colombian heavyweight Bernardo Mercado in the second round. Mercado subsequently became a prominent contender, making the result an important indication of Tate’s standing. Tate also gained a split decision over Johnny Boudreaux and continued accumulating stoppage victories. On 17 February 1979, he knocked out Duane Bobick in the first round at Indianapolis. Bobick had been a heavily publicised American prospect, and Tate’s decisive victory advanced his claim to a championship opportunity. An eighth-round stoppage of Kallie Knoetze in Mmabatho on 2 June completed his passage through Arum’s heavyweight elimination programme.

Tate met Gerrie Coetzee for the vacant WBA championship at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on 20 October 1979. Coetzee had qualified by stopping former champion Leon Spinks in one round. The promotion drew 81,000 paying spectators, with approximately 89,000 present in total, and was disputed internationally because it took place in apartheid South Africa. Tate entered at 240 pounds, eighteen pounds heavier than Coetzee. After being shaken by the South African’s early punches, he recovered and increasingly imposed his strength and conditioning. His sustained work over the closing rounds earned a unanimous decision, with scores of 148–145, 147–144 and 147–142. He became WBA champion in only his twentieth professional contest, although Larry Holmes retained the competing WBC championship.

His first defence, against Mike Weaver at Knoxville’s Stokely Athletic Center on 31 March 1980, changed the direction of his career. Tate built a lead through his boxing and remained ahead on all three official cards after fourteen rounds, 138–133, 137–134 and 136–133. Weaver persisted, however, and landed a left hook in the final round which knocked Tate unconscious. The finish came at two minutes and fifteen seconds, leaving only forty-five seconds of the scheduled contest. Tate’s championship was gone. Less than three months later, on 20 June, he returned against Trevor Berbick in Montreal on the programme headed by Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. Berbick stopped him in the ninth round, giving Tate consecutive knockout defeats against men who would both hold heavyweight world titles.

Tate resumed winning in 1981, but his later matchmaking largely involved less distinguished opposition. Victories over Barry Funches, Leroy Caldwell, Leroy Boone and Donnie Long restored his record without producing another championship contest. Fourteen successive wins followed the Berbick defeat. A proposed meeting with Holmes in 1984 failed to materialise because of injury, and Tate’s appearances became increasingly irregular. His final recognised professional bout was against Noel Quarless at York Hall in London on 30 March 1988. Weighing 281 pounds, Tate lost a ten-round points decision. He was thirty-three. His later unsanctioned appearances did not alter the official record of 37 professional contests.

At his best, Tate was more capable than his size alone suggested. The Coetzee victory demonstrated his patience, ability to recover and effectiveness over fifteen rounds. He could box at range, then bring his weight into closer exchanges and combine body punching with attacks upstairs. His stoppages of Mercado, Bobick and Knoetze showed that he could also finish established opposition. His career nevertheless divided sharply between the rapid advance to the championship and the rebuilding years after Weaver and Berbick. The later winning sequence contained few opponents comparable with those he had beaten or faced during his peak.

Outside boxing, Tate experienced cocaine addiction, financial difficulties and imprisonment following convictions involving theft and assault. His wife, Claudia, arranged treatment at a rehabilitation centre in 1985. After his career ended, he undertook work including parking cars, collecting rubbish and employment as a bouncer, while at times begging for money in Knoxville. He died on 9 April 1998, aged forty-three, after his pickup truck struck a utility pole. The medical examination identified a stroke associated with a brain tumour. His career remains defined by an Olympic medal, a clear world championship victory abroad and the sudden loss of that championship in a fight he had been leading.