John Tate (boxer)

John Tate (January 29, 1955 – April 9, 1998) was an American professional boxer and held the WBA heavyweight championship from 1979 to 1980. As an amateur he won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He scored notable victories over future Heavyweight Champion Gerrie Coetzee as well as beating number three ranked heavyweight Kallie Knoetze in 1979 and knocking out contender Bernardo Mercado and fringe contender Duane Bobick.

Amateur career

"Big John" Tate (named due to his Template:Convert height) captured a bronze medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, losing to Olympic boxing legend Teófilo Stevenson in a semifinal bout.

1976 Olympic results

• Round of 16: Defeated Andrzej Biegalski (Poland) by decision, 5–0
• Quarterfinal: Defeated Peter Hussing (West Germany) by decision, 3–2
• Semifinal: Lost to Teófilo Stevenson (Cuba) KO round 1 (was awarded bronze medal)

Tate lost in the finals of the 1975 National Golden Gloves to Emory Chapman. He lost in the quarterfinals the next year in a split decision to Michael Dokes. He avenged his loss to Dokes in the Olympic Trials by decision, and beat 1976 National AAU Champion Marvin Stinson to advance to the Olympic team. He also beat future heavyweight champion Greg Page by two close decisions, one in the quarterfinals of the 1975 National Golden Gloves tournament.

Tate met his future trainer, Ace Miller, during an amateur tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tate and Miller worked together through 1983.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Professional career

Tate turned pro in 1977 and scored a series of high-profile wins, knocking out highly ranked contenders Duane Bobick, Bernardo Mercado, and Kallie Knoetze. He captured the vacant WBA title on October 20, 1979, by defeating Gerrie Coetzee by decision, succeeding Muhammad Ali, who had relinquished the title that summer. Tate's fights with Knoetze and Coetzee were held in Apartheid South Africa, the latter before 80,000 fans.

Tate lost the title to Mike Weaver in his first defence just five months later. Tate was well ahead on all scorecards going into the 15th and final round when the big hitting Weaver landed a left hook punch to the chin that left the champion twitching unconscious on the canvas for several minutes.<ref name="findarticles.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Tate came back from the loss on June 20, 1980, against up and coming Trevor Berbick. This was on the undercard of the legendary fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán. The former champion started well, but tired throughout the bruising battle and was defeated by Berbick early in the 9th round—being knocked out by a punch that caught him on the back of the head and left him unconscious.<ref name="findarticles.com"/>

Tate was in the frame to challenge Larry Holmes for the heavyweight title in 1984, but the fight fell apart due to injury. Tate boxed on and off for the remainder of the 1980s but was often grossly overweight. He weighed in at an astonishing Template:Convert prior to losing a points decision to journeyman Noel Quarless in London, in his final fight in 1988. Tate's professional career record was 34–3, with 23 wins by knockout.

Unsanctioned bouts

In 1994, Tate had three unsanctioned fights. The Welshman David Pearce knocked him out in the third of those fights.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Outside the ring

Tate's life after his championship reign was brief and troubled, suffering from a cocaine addiction during the 1980s, being convicted on petty theft and assault charges,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> serving time in prison and at times panhandling on the streets of Knoxville, Tennessee.<ref name="query.nytimes.com">Template:Cite news</ref> He was rumored to have ballooned to over Template:Convert in his post-fighting years.<ref name="query.nytimes.com"/>

Death

On April 9, 1998, Tate died of injuries sustained following a one-car automobile accident. It was determined that he suffered a massive stroke, caused by a brain tumor, while driving. The pickup truck crashed into a utility pole. Two other passengers were not seriously injured.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
37	Template:No2Loss	34–3	Noel Quarless	PTS	10	Mar 30, 1988	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	34–2	Wesley Smith	UD	4	Jan 16, 1988	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	33–2	Mark Green	KO	1 (6)	Dec 19, 1987	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	32–2	Calvin Jones	MD	4	Nov 28, 1987	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	31–2	Steve Eisenbarth	TKO	1 (6)	Apr 17, 1986	Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	30–2	Marty Capasso	KO	2 (10), Template:Small	Aug 19, 1983	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	29–2	Donnie Long	UD	10	Apr 10, 1983	Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	28–2	Danny Sutton	TKO	5 (10), Template:Small	Jan 13, 1983	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	27–2	Bruce Grandham	TKO	3 (10)	Aug 27, 1982	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	26–2	Leroy Boone	UD	10	Jul 8, 1982	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	25–2	Leroy Caldwell	UD	10	Mar 25, 1982	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	24–2	Chuck Gardner	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Nov 27, 1981	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	23–2	Barry Funches	TKO	7 (10), Template:Small	Oct 15, 1981	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	22–2	Clayman Parker	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Aug 8, 1981	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	21–2	Harvey Steichen	UD	10	Feb 15, 1981	Template:Small
22	Template:No2Loss	20–2	Trevor Berbick	KO	9 (10), Template:Small	Jun 20, 1980	Template:Small
21	Template:No2Loss	20–1	Mike Weaver	KO	15 (15), Template:Small	Mar 31, 1980	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	20–0	Gerrie Coetzee	Template:Abbr	15	Oct 20, 1979	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	19–0	Kallie Knoetze	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Jun 2, 1979	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	18–0	Duane Bobick	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Feb 17, 1979	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	17–0	Ron Draper	KO	5 (10), Template:Small	Dec 9, 1978	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	16–0	Roy Wallace	KO	9 (10), Template:Small	Oct 14, 1978	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	15–0	Johnny Boudreaux	Template:Abbr	10	Aug 26, 1978	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	14–0	Walter Santemore	KO	6 (10), Template:Small	Jul 7, 1978	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	13–0	Bernardo Mercado	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Jun 22, 1978	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	12–0	Reinaldo Gorosito	KO	2 (10)	May 13, 1978	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	11–0	Harold Carter	Template:Abbr	4 (10)	Apr 25, 1978	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	10–0	Leon Shaw	KO	7 (10), Template:Small	Mar 14, 1978	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	9–0	James Dixon	KO	3 (8)	Jan 29, 1978	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	8–0	Charlie Jordan	KO	1 (10)	Dec 3, 1977	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	7–0	Frank Schram	TKO	1 (6)	Nov 18, 1977	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Lou Esa	KO	3 (6), Template:Small	Oct 22, 1977	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Eddie Lopez	Template:Abbr	6	Sep 13, 1977	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Walter Santemore	Template:Abbr	6	Aug 23, 1977	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Baker Tinsley	KO	2 (6)	Aug 20, 1977	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Norm Kues	Template:Abbr	1 (6), Template:Small	Jun 1, 1977	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Jerry Thompkins	Template:Abbr	5 (6), Template:Small	May 7, 1977	Template:Small

External links

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