By By Jeff Byrd / staff writer
May 16, 2002
A nationally televised boxing card comes to the Silver Star Hotel &Casino in Philadelphia on Saturday night.
Headlining the card will be former, two-time world champion heavyweight "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon. Witherspoon is seeking to gain a shot at a third world title.
To keep his bid alive Witherspoon needs to beat "Relentless" Ahman Abdin at the Silver Star on Saturday. The fight is part of the Sunday Night Fights series on Fox Sports Net. The card will be tape-delayed and shown on Sunday night, May 19, at 5 p.m. (CST).
Silver Star spokesman Leroy Clemons says the casino is excited about the upcoming boxing show. Doors will open at the Silver Star
Convention Center at 6:30 p.m. The undercard bouts begin at 7:30 and the main event is set to start at around 8:30.
Tickets for the bouts will be $25, $50 and $75 for VIP seating. The card is being promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions. This is the second Sunday Night Fight series to visit the Silver Star Hotel &Casino.
Witherspoon rose to the top of the heavyweights in 1984 when he won a 15-round decision against Greg Page for the WBC title. He lost the crown later that year. He won the WBA title in 1986 with a 15-round decision over Tony Tucker. He then lost that title in a first round knockout to Bonecrusher Smith in the fall of 1986.
Witherspoon is currently 52-11-1 with 36 knockouts. Abdin is 30-2-4 with 14 knockouts. The two were set to meet on March 10 but an illness led Abdin to cancel. Witherspoon then picked up Darroll Wilson and disposed of him on a highlight-reel knock out.
The 44-year-old Witherspoon fought five times last year going 4-1. He had a first-round TKO over prospect David Bostice and a 10-round decision over Top 10 contender Eliecer Castillo. The lone loss was last June in a controversial decision to current world contender Monte Barrett.
Witherspoon's manager, Tom Moran, feels his fighter still has some fight left, despite his age.
Still, time is short said Goossen.
Abdin owns wins over Tony LaRosa and beat previously unbeaten Marcus Rhode for the WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight title. His two losses were to former No. 1 contenders Larry Donald and Michael Grant.
Hughes of Houston, Tex., is positioning himself for a shot at a heavyweight ranking. He is 16-1 with 11 knockouts. He will fight Otis Tisdale (17-6) of Charlotte, N.C.
Former Playboy model Mia St. John (24-1-1) will also be in action. St. John's opponent has not been determined.
Meridian middleweight Brad McNeil will get his third bout at the Silver Star. McNeil is coming off a six-round decision win back in February in a card at the Frank Cochran Center.
McNeil is 12-1-1 with nine knock outs. His opponent has not been named.
Rounding out the card will be Laurel's Bo Skipper (8-1-1) who also fought back in February at the Cochran Center. Chris Thomas of Richmond, Va., will battle Donnell Wiggins of Covington, Tenn., in the opening fight.