Thomas, Pinklon

Pinklon Thomas grew up in harsh street conditions in Pontiac, Michigan. Thomas began experimenting with various narcotic drugs at the age of 12 years and by 14 became already drug addicted. His youthful years passed in the atmosphere of street fights, petty crimes, problems with drugs and alcohol. Many of his friends of that time died on the streets or ended up in prisons ^[1] . Pinclone's drug addiction was such that once at the age of 17 he demanded $ 100 from his father when he refused to give him money. Pinklon tried to threaten him with a gun, but his father took possession of the weapon. “This is a very bad memory,” then Pinklon recalled. “This incident bothered me for a very long time. I was then greedy and selfish. That's what drugs do to you. I regret it to this day ” ^[2] . At age 17, Pinklon marries and moves with his wife to Fort Lewis, Washington Army Base. In 1977, one of Thomas's friends brings him to a local sports hall and shows him to one of the trainers. Since Thomas often fought a lot in the streets, he was asked to perform in the ring in a fight with a local boxer nicknamed Big Ben. The fight lasted only two rounds, at the end of the 2nd round the completely exhausted Pinklon was knocked out. After the fight, Pink realizes that street fights are one thing, and boxing is another. Thomas decides to seriously engage in boxing and at the same time end his unhealthy lifestyle. For 6 months, he trained hard, jogged, and most importantly managed to get rid of drug addiction. Six months later, after Pinklon crossed the threshold of the gym, he met with Big Ben for the second time and took convincing revenge from him for the defeat. After Thomas conducts three more amateur fights and after a short amateur career decides to switch to professionals ^[3] .

Thomas made his debut on August 29, 1978. His first opponent was Ken Arlt. In his debut match, Thomas won on points. A month later, Thomas entered the ring against Mustafa El Amin and knocked him out in the 3rd round. Thomas first won by knockout.

On April 7, 1979, Pinklon Thomas entered his first 10-round fight. The opponent was the most experienced 44-year-old boxer Elmo Tex Henderson, who had already held his 45th fight in his career. Thomas knocked out a veteran in the 5th round, for Henderson this fight was the penultimate in his career.

In July 1979, Thomas met with Leroy Caldwell. Thomas first went the entire distance of the 10-round fight, only a minute before the end of the 10th round sent Caldwell to knockout.

In February 1980, Thomas met with novice boxer Jerry Williams. This was the first of three fights between them. After round 5, Williams refused to continue the fight due to the dissection of his left eye.

In August 1980, Thomas met Jerry Williams for the second time. For Thomas, this fight was very difficult. Pinklon dominated at the beginning of the battle, but after breaking both his arms - he had to defend himself in the last rounds, Williams threw a hail of punches at Pinclone in the last rounds, but this was not enough for victory. At the end of 10 rounds, Thomas unanimously won the points.

In January 1982, Thomas met with the unpromising Johnny Warr. Warr had 6 victories and 18 defeats on his account, but nevertheless brought trouble to Thomas. Thomas won an unconvincing victory on points.

In July 1982, Thomas met Jerry Williams 3 times. Thomas won by knockout in round 2.

In August 1982, he won by TKO in the 8th round of James Tillis .

1983-01-22   Jerry Coetsee -   Pinklon Thomas

• Location:   Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Result: Draw by decision of most judges in a 10-round bout
• Status: Rating battle
• Referee: Larry Hazzard
• Judges' score: Pavel Cavalier (4-5), Frank Brunet (5-5), Richard F. Murray (4-4)
• Weight: Coetzee 101 kg; Thomas 98.80 kg
• Broadcast: HBO

In January 1983, Thomas met with Jerry Coetzee . In a 10 round fight, a draw was recorded.

In March 1983, Thomas won by TKO in round 10 of Alfonso Ratliff .

1984-08-31   Tim Witherspoom -   Pinklon Thomas

• Location:   Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Result: Thomas won the decision of the majority of judges in a 12-round battle
• Status: WBC title fight (Witherspoom 1st defense)
• Referee: Richard Steele
• Judges' score :: Dolby Shirley (115–112 Thomas), Dwayne Ford (116–112 Thomas), Hal Miller (114–114)
• Weight: Witherspoom 104 kg; Thomas 98.80 kg
• Broadcast: HBO

In August 1984, Thomas met with WBC World Champion Tim Witherspoom . In a stubborn battle, Thomas won the decision of the majority of the judges. A few days after the fight, Thomas found out that he had a retinal detachment of one eye. Don King advised Thomas to end his career, but Pinklon found himself saying that he had gone too far to stop so suddenly. ^[four]

1985-06-15   Mike Weaver -   Pinklon Thomas

• Location:   Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Result: Thomas won by technical knockout in round 8 in a 12-round battle.
• Status: WBC Title Champion (1st defense of Thomas)
• Referee: Carlos Padilla
• Judges' score: Herb Santos (66-66), Dave Moretti (67-66), Dick Cole (66-66)
• Weight: Weaver 101 kg; Thomas 98.80 kg
• Broadcast: HBO

In June 1985, Thomas met with former world champion Mike Weaver . The fight was close. Thomas knocked Weaver down in rounds 1 and 8 and won by technical knockout in round 8, but at the time the fight stopped, the score of the judges was a draw.

1986-03-22   Trevor Berbick -   Pinklon Thomas

• Location:   Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Result: Berbick's victory by unanimous decision in a 12-round bout
• Status: WBC title fight (2nd defense of Thomas)
• Referee: Richard Steele
• Score of the judges: The Art of Lurie (114-115) Paul Smith (113-115) Arlene Bynum (113-115) - all in favor of Berbick
• Weight: Berbik 99.10 kg; Thomas 98.80 kg
• Broadcast: HBO

In March 1986, Thomas met with Trevor Berbick . In a stubborn battle, victory was won by close unanimous decision of the judges.

After this fight, Thomas won three knockout fights.

1987-05-20   Mike Tyson -   Pinklon Thomas

• Location:   Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Result: Tyson won by TKO in the 6th round in a 12-round battle.
• Status: Championship fight for the WBC heavyweight title (Tyson's 2nd defense); WBA heavyweight title fight (Tyson's 1st defense)
• Referee: Carlos Padilla
• Judges' score: Dalby Shirley (49-46), Gordon Volkman (50-44), Harry Gibbs (49-46) - all in favor of Tyson
• Time: 2:00
• Weight: Tyson 99.20 kg; Thomas 98.80 kg
• Broadcast: HBO

In May 1987, Tyson entered the ring against former Pinclon champion Thomas. In the 6th round, Tyson conducted a series of uppercuts and hooks on both hands, some of which came right into the applicant’s jaw. Thomas stumbled. After the next left hook, the applicant fell on canvas. He did not have time to get into the account of "10". The referee stopped the fight. Subsequently, Thomas distributed the version that 6 weeks before the fight in one of the trainings he injured his right shoulder, he did not have enough time to change his fighting style and thus he was not ready to fight with such an opponent. ^[four]

December 9, 1988   Evander Holyfield -   Pinklon Thomas

• Location:   Convention Hall, Atlantic City , New Jersey , USA
• Result: Holyfield won by TKO in the 7th round in a 12-round battle
• Status: Rating battle
• Referee: Tony Perez
• Judges' scores: Rocky Castellani (70-60), Eugene Grant (69-60), Frank Brunetto (70-60) - all in favor of Holyfield at the time of the stop
• Time: 3:00
• Weight: Thomas 100.70 kg; Holyfield 93.00 kg
• Broadcast: Showtime

After losing to Tyson, in December 1988 Holyfield met with former heavyweight champion Pinclon Thomas. Holyfield beat his opponent for 7 rounds. After the end of the 7th round, the beaten Thomas reached his corner hard, and his coach immediately decided to stop the fight. After this fight, long-time coach Angelo Dundee advised Thomas to resign and stopped working with him. Pinklon then got addicted to drugs and became depressed. ^[five]

The next fight, Thomas held in May 1990. By then, due to problems with alcohol and drugs, Thomas had lost a hit and was far behind his 1984 model. In May 1990, he entered the ring against Jornimen Curtis Isaac, the fight lasted all 10 rounds and Thomas won a tough victory on points over not the strongest opponent.

In June 1990, lost by unanimous decision to Mike Hunter .

1990-08-07   Riddick Bowe -   Pinklon Thomas

• Location:   Physical Activity Center, Washington, DC, USA
• Result: Bowie won by technical knockout in the 8th round in a 12-round battle.
• Status: Rating battle
• Referee: Carlos Padilla
• Judges score:
• Time: 2:00
• Weight: Bow 102.30 kg; Thomas 99.80 kg
• Broadcast: HBO

In September 1990, Riddick Bowe met with former world champion Pinclon Thomas. Aged Thomas chose the wrong tactics for the battle - he got involved in an open battle with a more powerful opponent. After two close starting rounds, Bowe shook Thomas with a series of uppercuts and hooks from both hands. In round 4, Thomas acted from a distance, but it was evident that he was very tired after the last round, but he managed to break through a series of blows in Bow, but these blows had no power. At the end of the round, Thomas unleashed a glove, but knotting which took enough time. In round 5, Thomas recovered and tried to act more actively, this round was notable for the fact that Bowe was now working as number 2. In the 7th round, Thomas's endurance finally sat down and Bowe began to break through a series of blows more and more often. Thomas staggered but did not fall. In round 8, Thomas almost did not defend himself and barely kept his feet, he spent the last 30 seconds in a state of grogging , but Bowe could not do anything to him in this round. During the break, Thomas' corner decided to stop the fight.

1991-02-19   Tommy Morrison -   Pinklon Thomas

• Location:   Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Result: Morison won by technical knockout in round 1 in a 12-round battle
• Status: Rating battle
• Referee: Danny Campbell
• Time: 3:00
• Weight: Morrison 99.1 kg; Thomas 98.80 kg
• Broadcast: HBO

In February 1991, Thomas met with Tommy Morrison . The whole first round Morrison methodically beat Thomas, during the break for the second round, the doctor advised to stop the fight. This was the last serious adversary in the career of Pinclon Thomas.

After losing to Morrison, Thomas did not perform in the ring for more than a year. In 1992, Thomas became a jornimen and spent 13 fights mainly with weak or novice boxers. So on July 31, 1992, Thomas had a fight with Terry Miller, whose track record included 8 fights that he all lost. Miller was knocked out in the 2nd round. The very next day, August 1, 1992, Thomas holds his next professional duel against Bobby Jones. Jones has 16 fights, but like Pinclone’s previous opponent Terry Miller - not a single victory, 16 losses. Jones was knocked out in the 1st round. A week later, Pinklon Thomas will knock out the novice boxer Adolf Davis, who will only spend his third fight in his career.

In November 1992, Thomas entered his penultimate championship fight for the new vacant IBO title . His rival was the inexperienced Craig Payne, who spent only 10 fights in his career. Almost in an equal 12-round battle, Thomas won a very controversial victory on points. Thomas became the first IBO heavyweight champion.

Just two months later, in January 1993, Thomas went to his last champion fight for the vacant WBF title against Lawrence Carter. In the 7th round, Thomas was knocked out and lost consciousness. Thomas went to the hospital. He was diagnosed with cerebral hemorrhage, which soon stopped. ^[5] After all this, Pinklon Thomas left boxing.

Pinklon Thomas married Katie Jones in 1975 at the age of 17. In 1977, they gave birth to their son, Pinklon Thomas the third. ^[6] . They had been married for 12 years and divorced May 27, 1987. ^[7] seasons in various leagues ^[8] , currently works as a trainer in one of the sports gyms in the city of Pontiac ^[9] . Pinclone Thomas's father: Pinkon Thomas-the first is a long-liver, May 20, 2013 celebrated his 99th birthday ^[10] . In 2010, the Thomas family began a lawsuit with Roy Lay, who was accused of sexual harassment of the 16-year-old granddaughter of the boxer, which lasted nearly 10 years. Lei was sentenced to only 1 year in prison and 5 years probation, which seemed to the Thomas family insufficient, and Pinklon Thomas in September 2010 spoke in court for increasing the punishment of the pedophile ^[11] .

• First IBO World Champion
• Participated in the first fight for the WBF title
• One of the 5 heavyweight boxers who were in the pound for pound ranking in the 1980s (except for him Mike Tyson , Larry Holmes , Michael Spinks , Evander Holyfield )
• Has the same best place in the pound for pound ranking as Lennox Lewis (8)

• Thomas in 2011
• Track record (Eng.)