TIM TOMASHEK still holds the honour of being the unlikeliest heavyweight title challenger having been plucked from the crowd just hours before competing for the WBO belt.
Tomashek found himself going from spectator to challenger for Tommy Morrison’s dark brown and gold belt on a warm August night in Kansas in 1993.
Morrison – who had starred in Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Rocky V’ three years earlier – was set to defend his title against Mike Williams.
But Williams, who had promoters fearing the worst due to several missed media obligations, put the main event in jeopardy by refusing to leave his dressing room.
Keen to ensure Morrison’s title defence went ahead, well-respected manager Bruce Trampler frantically sought after a late replacement.
And he quickly turned his attention to Tomashek, who was in the crowd as a fan and a potential backup.
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When recalling the circumstances in which he came to be the backup fighter, Tomashek told the Chicago Tribune: “He says, ‘Hey, do you wanna fight Tommy Morrison?’
“Well, I’ve heard that kind of thing before, so I said, ‘Naw, I want to go to the Packers tailgate party.’
“He says, ‘They’ll pay you $2,500 just for showing up here.’ I’m out the door.”
Tomashek didn’t expect to get the call to lace up his gloves, so much so he was chugging beers and enjoying hotdogs in the stands.
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But the call did come, prompting him to go backstage and do what little warm-up he could while under the influence and re-emerge two hours later for what would be the biggest fight of his career.
Tomashek put up as much of a challenge as one would expect an intoxicated short-notice replacement to, suffering a fourth-round TKO defeat.
‘Doughboy’ retired on the stool but insisted he was “okay” as the referee waved off the fight, which sparked a chorus of boos from the frustrated crowd.
Tomashek wowed viewers across the world with several witty one-liners in his post-fight interview.
When asked how he trained for the fight, he said: “They beat me up at work.”
Asked for his thoughts on why he got the call to replace Williams, he replied: “They knew I’d put up a good tussle – or else they like bloodshed.”
Tomashek had viewers in stitches when quizzed about the best part of the short-notice showdown.
He replied: “Not having to wait in line to get tickets.”
Morrison, who would go on to lose his WBO strap in sensational fashion less than two months later, was completely clueless about the switcheroo of opponents until he arrived at the Kemper Arena.
He revealed: “I didn’t know I was fighting Whatsisname until I got out there.
“It wasn’t difficult. The guy was basically in there to survive.”
Tomashek would go on to fight 20 more times before calling time on his career in 1996 with a TKO victory over Ken Doss.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
