Renaldo "Mr." Snipes

[sweetviolenturge]

Snipes was an enigmatic heavyweight to follow in that he could rise to the occasion & look impressive when it wasn't expected of him & then turn around & fight below the level of a fighter that he was fully expected to beat. He was a frustrating fighter to be a fan of, but for a short while in the early '80s, he was my favorite heavyweight.
Even Snipes exact place of birth is a bit of a mystery in that boxrec & wikipedia list it as Houston, Texas, but in interviews, he claims that he was born & raised in Yonkers, NY. Whichever is the case, ever the enigma, Snipes major amateur accomplishments were in Chicago where he twice won the prestigious Chicago Golden Gloves in 1977 & 1978. Also winning the Chicago CYO heavyweight title in '78.
Shortly thereafter he turned pro in Chicago by knocking out one Carl Halliburton in one round. After which he moved his base of operations back to his hometown of Yonkers where he would begin headlining shows at the Westchester County Center in nearby White Plains, NY.
Snipes ran his record to 19-0 ( 11 KOs ) against a respectable group of rugged clubfighters & journeymen opponents such as "The Fighting Postman" Barry Funches, Eugene "Gang" Green, Dave "Bigfoot" Johnson & Larry "Brandy" Alexander. This set him up for his national television debut when he met Chicago's unbeaten "Jumbo" Cummings in a crossroads match with the winner set to face the reigning WBA Light heavyweight Champion Eddie Mustapha Muhammad who planned to take a step into the heavyweight ranks later that Spring of 1981.
Snipes coasted through to a decisive 10 round decision win that was largely devoid of action except for a bizarre sequence when while in a clinch Cummings bit Snipes on the shoulder, something he no doubt learned during his days in the Illinois State Penitentiary before his pro career began.
The bout with Mustapha Muhammad followed in which he completely outboxed the pudgy, slow-footed former Eddie"The Flame" Gregory winning via a wide points margin on two of the judge's cards, while the third, somehow gave the bout to Muhammad.
What followed was an elimination bout with South Africa's freakishly hard-hitting contender Gerrie Coetzee in Snipe's hometown area of Tarrytown, NY. Which was a nail-biter of a fight for a fan like myself as Snipes was dropped twice by Coetzee's big right hand, but he got up off the deck on both occasions & proceeded to win the majority of the rounds for a somewhat controversial split decision win. Which netted him a November date with the undefeated WBC Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes.
Snipes awkward style gave Holmes trouble that night in Pittsburg as he kept catching Holmes with a right hand that he would alternate between straight down the line & looping over the top as well as with sweeping left hooks. But, Holmes was still ahead heading into the fateful seventh round when Snipes caught him coming in with his hands down & dropped him face first to the canvas. Hard.
For all purposes, for just a few seconds it looked as though Renaldo Snipes would become the heavyweight champion of the world.
But, Larry Holmes was resilient, as he clawed his way up via the ropes only to bounce his face off the turnbuckle before beating referee Rudy Ortega's count. He was met by a jubilant Snipes who began loading up on more big right hands in his over eagerness to put Holmes down again & by doing so he let Holmes off the hook as Holmes began to pepper a fatigued Snipes & he was back in control of the fight by round's end.
Over the next four rounds, Holmes stayed in command & dominated most of the action as Snipes went right-hand crazy trying to recreate what he'd done in round seven. But, he never could find the spot again & in the eleventh round, Holmes battered Snipes along the ropes until the ref called the fight in favor of Holmes. Many thought that the stoppage was a bit premature & I tend to agree with them, but in all likelihood even if the ref had given Snipes a few more seconds he wouldn't have survived the onslaught.
TOMORROW - Snipes post-Holmes career.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

The punch he hit Holmes with in round 7 was picture perfect Snipes must have thought i'v done it for a split second I remember before the Greg Page fight he [Snipes] said Greg Page has got no heart or something to that affect he got punished for those comment's by Page he was a one tough Hombre for sure Renaldo Mr Snipes

[Kalan]

Snipes had the fight in his pocket. Holmes was badly hurt and Reynaldo made several key mistakes.

He blew his cool and left Larry off the hook. Holmes showed a great deal of courage -- or more like defiance. Ordinarily you take a few seconds – or you even take a 9-count to clear your head – when you get nailed that hard. Holmes had a world of experience, so some of the chances he took he took in some of his fights it’s amazing he went undefeated for so long. But Larry didn't think much of Snipes and got up immediately. What is likely to happen in that situation is you'll stumble around and possibly fall down again. The referee could very well stop it.

Holmes lurched into the ropes like a drunk. That’s why you teach kids to blitz to a neutral corner immediately on flooring their opponent. When the referee has to take his time to direct you to a neutral corner like he did Snipes – he could very well miss the stumbling behavior of your opponent might exhibit if he tries to jump up immediately. I'm not sure he saw Holmes stumbling and falling into the ropes.

[Nile4000]

The punch he hit Holmes with in round 7 was picture perfect Snipes must have thought i'v done it for a split second I remember before the Greg Page fight he [Snipes] said Greg Page has got no heart or something to that affect he got punished for those comment's by Page he was a one tough Hombre for sure Renaldo Mr Snipes

I used to have the VHS tape. Renaldo felt that Page was hyped up by the media (true to a certain extent), but Greg had a better skillset, but Renaldo did tag him several times.

[Nile4000]

Snipes had the fight in his pocket. Holmes was badly hurt and Reynaldo made several key mistakes.

He blew his cool and left Larry off the hook. Holmes showed a great deal of courage -- or more like defiance. Ordinarily you take a few seconds – or you even take a 9-count to clear your head – when you get nailed that hard. Holmes had a world of experience, so some of the chances he took he took in some of his fights it’s amazing he went undefeated for so long. But Larry didn't think much of Snipes and got up immediately. What is likely to happen in that situation is you'll stumble around and possibly fall down again. The referee could very well stop it.

Holmes lurched into the ropes like a drunk. That’s why you teach kids to blitz to a neutral corner immediately on flooring their opponent. When the referee has to take his time to direct you to a neutral corner like he did Snipes – he could very well miss the stumbling behavior of your opponent might exhibit if he tries to jump up immediately. I'm not sure he saw Holmes stumbling and falling into the ropes.

That could have been a history changing moment, especially if Tillis had beaten Weaver for the WBA belt. Always wanted to see Renaldo and James fight as pros. In addition, if that didn't happen, Renaldo could have defended against Holmes, Cooney, Dokes, and Page, maybe Leon Spinks.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

The punch he hit Holmes with in round 7 was picture perfect Snipes must have thought i'v done it for a split second I remember before the Greg Page fight he [Snipes] said Greg Page has got no heart or something to that affect he got punished for those comment's by Page he was a one tough Hombre for sure Renaldo Mr Snipes

I used to have the VHS tape. Renaldo felt that Page was hyped up by the media (true to a certain extent), but Greg had a better skillset, but Renaldo did tag him several times.

Mate Snipes was a hard man he had no fear

[Tony1244]

Excellent write-up. violent!

Enjoyed reading every word of that, it brought me back. I saw Eddie "The Flame" Gregory beat Hildo Silva at the old Felt Forum. I remember the Snipes-Cummings fight on TV.

Interesting that Snipes almost KOd Holmes, you would have thought Renaldo would have even a higher KO %.

[Nile4000]

The punch he hit Holmes with in round 7 was picture perfect Snipes must have thought i'v done it for a split second I remember before the Greg Page fight he [Snipes] said Greg Page has got no heart or something to that affect he got punished for those comment's by Page he was a one tough Hombre for sure Renaldo Mr Snipes

I used to have the VHS tape. Renaldo felt that Page was hyped up by the media (true to a certain extent), but Greg had a better skillset, but Renaldo did tag him several times.

Mate Snipes was a hard man he had no fear

Indeed, wished his career would've gone better. Seems like a cool guy also

[ClivePatrickLyons]

I used to have the VHS tape. Renaldo felt that Page was hyped up by the media (true to a certain extent), but Greg had a better skillset, but Renaldo did tag him several times.

Mate Snipes was a hard man he had no fear

Indeed, wished his career would've gone better. Seems like a cool guy also

Loved to me him I must get over to the states

[RazorKO]

Snipes was a good fighter, always gave it his all. He was lucky to get the decision against Coetzee, but he beat Berbick convincingly and gave Witherspoon one of his toughest fights. He had one of the toughest chins of the 80's heavyweights.

I saw his last fight against Gonzalez and it was just sad to watch. What made it worse was that Gonzalez was taunting Snipes and torturing him by not finishing him off for the pure pleasure of it. Im glad Bowe destroyed him. Him and Ayala are joint as two of most vile men to ever step into the ring.

[Ambling Alp II]

The gap between Snipes (and Carl Williams for that matter) and the paper champions of the 1980s (Witherspoon, Thomas, Berbick, Page, Tubbs etc.) was very small if anything. They were looked good at times and at other times were dreadful. Snipes and Williams were just not as lucky.

[Kalan]

In the case of Snipes it was a wide gap.. Tyrell Biggs had little trouble beating Snipes when he had only 12 fights.. Somehow Snipes managed to beat Coetzee and Berbick.. How they allowed that rube to beat them shows how terribly inconsistent some of those 80's champs were. Marvis Frazier beat James Smith.

Snipes was one of the dumbest clowns to ever don gloves in a World Title Fight. Just about everybody he fought thought they could beat him.

[Ambling Alp II]

Excellent write-up. violent!

Enjoyed reading every word of that, it brought me back. I saw Eddie "The Flame" Gregory beat Hildo Silva at the old Felt Forum. I remember the Snipes-Cummings fight on TV.

Interesting that Snipes almost KOd Holmes, you would have thought Renaldo would have even a higher KO %.

I remmber the Snipes-Cummings fight as well. Snipes was on TV a lot. I remember the Eddie Musapha Muhammad fight as well. He had several fights against WBS champs and did pretty well against all of them. He had wins over Cotezee (though he was a little lucky) and Berbick. He had two close losses to Witherspoon and Page. He wasn't pretty to watch, but he was right there with those guys.

He seemed to disappear after the embarrassing loss to Evangelista. However for a few years, he was one of the top heavyweights in the world.

[Kalan]

Snipes was a good fighter, always gave it his all. He was lucky to get the decision against Coetzee, but he beat Berbick convincingly and gave Witherspoon one of his toughest fights. He had one of the toughest chins of the 80's heavyweights.

I saw his last fight against Gonzalez and it was just sad to watch. What made it worse was that Gonzalez was taunting Snipes and torturing him by not finishing him off for the pure pleasure of it. Im glad Bowe destroyed him. Him and Ayala are joint as two of most vile men to ever step into the ring.

Ayala was wretched -- and so was Bowe -- a really nasty person... I wanted him to fight Lewis so he'd get his head ripped off -- but he got hit so much he got what was coming to him anyway. I loved his fight with the Kickboxer.. He got kicked and kicked and kicked until he ended up a broken mess on the canvas.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Surely Snipes just had the rotten luck of being born at the wrong time. Earlier in time he would have devastated tiny guys like Dempsey, Louis or Marciano.

[RazorKO]

Snipes was a good fighter, always gave it his all. He was lucky to get the decision against Coetzee, but he beat Berbick convincingly and gave Witherspoon one of his toughest fights. He had one of the toughest chins of the 80's heavyweights.

I saw his last fight against Gonzalez and it was just sad to watch. What made it worse was that Gonzalez was taunting Snipes and torturing him by not finishing him off for the pure pleasure of it. Im glad Bowe destroyed him. Him and Ayala are joint as two of most vile men to ever step into the ring.

Ayala was wretched -- and so was Bowe -- a really nasty person... I wanted him to fight Lewis so he'd get his head ripped off -- but he got hit so much he got what was coming to him anyway. I loved his fight with the Kickboxer.. He got kicked and kicked and kicked until he ended up a broken mess on the canvas.

Ive always liked Bowe. He did some stupid things I admit i.e sucker punching Donald at the pre fight conference, but he always came across as a family man, i never saw him do anything nasty, except for the Donald incident of course, which he quickly apologised after.

Gonzalez on the other hand was a nasty piece of work. He tortured Snipes and took great glee in doing so, he could have knocked him out at any point but chose to do so in the final round.

[Kalan]

Surely Snipes just had the rotten luck of being born at the wrong time. Earlier in time he would have devastated tiny guys like Dempsey, Louis or Marciano.

Snipes was such a putz that he never would have made it at any time... He had the chin of Ken Norton, all the the boxing skills of James Smith, the speed of Chuck Wepner, the coordination of Duane Bobick, the career management of Marvis Frazier, and the IQ of Leon Stinks.

[Bricks]

Surely Snipes just had the rotten luck of being born at the wrong time. Earlier in time he would have devastated tiny guys like Dempsey, Louis or Marciano.

Snipes was such a putz that he never would have made it at any time... He had the chin of Ken Norton, all the the boxing skills of James Smith, the speed of Chuck Wepner, the coordination of Duane Bobick, the career management of Marvis Frazier, and the IQ of Leon Stinks.

and the stupidity of BB kalan?

[Tuan_Jim]

Happy news - Mr. Snipes recently defeated cancer. And speaks very well for a heavyweight from the rough & tumble 80s era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5vFuj-_FdA

[Kalan]

Surely Snipes just had the rotten luck of being born at the wrong time. Earlier in time he would have devastated tiny guys like Dempsey, Louis or Marciano.

Snipes was such a putz that he never would have made it at any time... He had the chin of Ken Norton, all the the boxing skills of James Smith, the speed of Chuck Wepner, the coordination of Duane Bobick, the career management of Marvis Frazier, and the IQ of Leon Stinks.

and the stupidity of BB kalan?

If BB kalan is your name I would say so... It's a step up from you to Neon Leon... Snipes actually sounds a little better than he did back in the day. His voice and articulation sounds one Hell of a lot better than Riddck Bowe for instance.