A Boxing Memory: Pinklon Thomas

A Boxing Memory: Pinklon Thomas

I could write the same story about any heavyweight from that lost generation of talent. The words would largely mirror. Only the name at the top of the piece would differ.

There are so many stories of wasted talent. Their prime years were unfulfilled, wasted by years of abuse. Hard drugs, drink, periods of incarceration, and motivation sucked out of them by the politics of the day.

It is a time in boxing history that is largely assigned to the basement. An uninspiring roster of out-of-shape world heavyweight champions. But all of the fighters who passed around the alphabet baubles before Mike Tyson restored some semblance of balance and order, had talent. Some had it in abundance. Time has healed at least some of those wounds of apathy and despair. They are now remembered a little more fondly. And with a lot more sympathy.

All of those heavyweight fighters from the 80s started out with the ambition to match their talent, but as Carlos Avecedo said in his piece for Boxing News a few years back, it didn’t quite work out that way for the vast majority of them:

‘Later they would become vagrants, murder victims, addicts, rapists, walking – no, shuffling – suicides, with that sad gait familiar to anyone who has spent time in a boxing gym.’ Harsh maybe, but with more than a ring of truth. Avecedo said with a few exceptions, the heavyweights of that era were united by misfortune. Far stronger words could have been used.

The likes of Tim Witherspoon, Tony Tubbs, Greg Page, Tony Tubbs, Tony Tucker and others all tasted world heavyweight glory but equally, they still all flattered to deceive. Without the demons that were too hard to fight, although in truth, some didn’t want to fight them, heavyweight history would tell a very different story of their merits in comparison to those that came before. And after.

Pinklon Thomas is another name on the door of what could have been. He tasted the evils of heroin when he was only twelve. He was a bona fide addict only two years later. Not only to the drugs but the lifestyle as well. Thomas quit school at fifteen and the gangster way, a life of crime, formed his early years until boxing saved another lost soul. Well, to a point. The drugs wouldn’t be as easy to walk away from. Without the many demons, you could make a case for any of those aforementioned heavyweights to have been the best of that generation with a clear road. Thomas would have been more than in the conversation for the subjective rankings of that era.

Don King controlled the heavyweight division. If you wanted in, you had to go with King. Many heavyweights of the day would now testify that was a large part of the problems that era suffered with. Ambition sucked out of them, pawns in the unforgivable world of the dirty dollar. King faced lawsuits from the likes of Witherspoon, Tubbs and others. But no day in court could bring back those lost years in the wilderness. Witherspoon even claimed he threw a fight against James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith to get out of fighting Mike Tyson for what he perceived as a derisory purse. “Losing meant Don was out of my life, and that was all I wanted,” Witherspoon said. Free of Don King came at a cost. Witherspoon would never again fight for a version of the world heavyweight title. How many untold stories still remain from those times of heavyweight decay.

Thomas found himself frozen out until he signed with Don King. The controversial promoter had his enemies, but Thomas wasn’t one of them. Before the inevitable hook-up with King, Thomas had a career of great promise. He turned pro in 1978 after just three amateur fights and went twenty fights unblemished before a majority draw with the South African Gerrie Coetzee in 1983. But four more wins and his signature on a Don King contract earned Thomas a shot at Witherspoon for the WBC heavyweight title in 1984. It was a largely forgettable affair, but Thomas edged it on the cards and hopes were raised when he dispatched Mike Weaver with a beautifully timed right hand in eight rounds the following June in Nevada. Thomas almost certainly never looked better than he did against the tough and experienced Weaver.

But the career of Thomas had already peaked. Another heavyweight with a tale of a false dawn. There were hand and eye problems and Thomas started flirting in other directions. Thomas was managing and training other fighters and fancied himself as a singer. In the days leading up to a defence of his title against Trevor Berbick, he was selling cassettes of a song he recorded for $5. Thomas was also having marriage problems, his trainer Angelo Dundee was missing from his corner, and his mind was elsewhere and certainly not on Berbick. Flirtations with the singing world were only the tip of the iceberg. The battle with cocaine was raging. Thomas was losing it. In truth, he wasn’t trying to win it. With money, he had cocaine on tap. Thomas said he embraced his addiction.

Despite being the overwhelming betting favourite Thomas lost his title on points to Berbick in 1986 in a massive upset and he never got it back.

Thomas eventually started to deal with his addictions and reunited with Dundee, but his prime was already behind him. After three routine wins on the comeback trail, Thomas got the call to face the rampaging and fearsome punching Mike Tyson in 1987. Dundee didn’t want his fighter to fight Tyson, but the confidence of Thomas eventually won him over. But an old shoulder injury resurfaced in training, and Thomas had to fight the so-called ‘baddest man on the planet’ with one arm. Dundee wanted the fight called off, but Thomas fearing he wouldn’t get another chance if he did, had no thoughts of doing so.

Tyson blasted Thomas out in six rounds, but after suffering his first-ever knockdown, Thomas salvaged some pride by finishing the fight on his feet. It was his last attempt at reclaiming former glories and the pattern for the rest of his career had been set. Thomas had moments in the fight with Tyson and showed glimpses of his obvious talent. Tyson would later say that Thomas was his toughest-ever opponent. But words couldn’t change the career trajectory of Thomas. From contender to champion, he was now the name on the record for fighters vying for what Thomas once had.

Thomas was back on the drugs post-Tyson. He lost three days of his life after one binge. But his career continued, even after suffering a stroke before a fight with Evander Holyfield in 1988. Holyfield predictably stopped the former champion and Thomas was out of the ring until 1990.

The battle with his demons continued. It got worse before it got better. But crucially, it did get better. Eventually, Thomas got the help needed. He had finally accepted he had to win the biggest fight of his life. And win he did. But that fight was too late to save his boxing career.

Defeats to Mike Hunter, Riddick Bowe and Tommy Morrison killed off any lingering hopes of getting back what he had lost. Bowe and Morrison stopped him. Hunter beat him on points. And now it was very much the road to nowhere for the former heavyweight champion of the world.

The quick stoppage defeat to Morrison in 1991 was followed by a winning run that looked better on paper than it did in reality. Thirteen wins against the usual suspects, including a win over Craig Payne in 1992 for the lightly regarded WBF and IBO titles gave Thomas some seeds of comfort. If little hope. But when Lawrence Carter stopped him in seven rounds in 1992, the end had arrived for Pinklon Thomas. His final ring resume was 43-7-1.