John Tate vs. Mike Weaver

Mike Weaver 207 lbs beat John Tate 232 lbs by KO at 2:15 in round 15 of 15

• Date: 1980-03-31
• Location: Stokley Athletics Center, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
• Referee: Ernesto Magana 133-138
• Judge: Nicasio Lorenzo Drake 134-137
• Judge: Cesar Ramos 133-136

• World Boxing Association Heavyweight Title (1st defense by Tate)
• Aired On: ABC Wide World of Sports

Notes

• Bout official no earlier than December 20, 1979 and no later than January 23, 1980.
• Tate was three inches taller and 24½ lbs heavier than Weaver.
• Tate was a 2-1 favorite.
• There was a crowd of 12.769.
• Unofficial AP scorecard (through 14 rounds) - 137-132 Tate.
• Weaver said he knew he was behind and needed a knockout to win.
• "Finally in the fifteenth round, my manager reminded me I was telling everyone I knew that I was going to knock Tate out. He told me I was running out of time and it was now or never so you better do it! I sat in my corner and recited the 23rd Psalm to myself and asked the Lord to give me the strength to knock him out. He gave me more than I needed," said Mike Weaver in a 2016 interview with Ringside Report.
• Weaver knocked Tate out with a left hook. Tate laid unconscious, face down and spread eagle on the canvas as he was counted out.
• "The crowd cost Tate the fight," Weaver said afterwards. "He made the mistake of trying to come out and slug with me. He was boxing before that. He was responding to the crowd."
• If Tate had defeated Weaver, his next opponent was expected to be Muhammad Ali.