John Tate vs Roy Wallace - boxing - heavyweights

John Tate vs Roy Wallace in a ten round non-title heavyweight fight

Date: October 14, 1978

Venue: The Summit, Houston, Texas

Tate stance: orthodox

Wallace stance: orthodox

John Tate was a big heavyweight by the 1970s standards - 6'4", with an 80" reach. He had an impressive amateur career, scoring wins over future world champions Greg Page and Michael Dokes, Tate won a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, losing to Teofilo Stevenson in the semi final. He turned pro in May 1977. Over the next 15 months, Tate won 15 consecutive bouts. His biggest win to date was against the highly rated Bernardo Mercado, who was 20-0 with 17 KOs at the time.

Tate's 16th opponent was Roy "Cookie" Wallace. He was a journeyman from Dallas who shared the ring with George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. He turned pro in 1967, and would go on to win the Texas State heavyweight title in 1979. His record at the time was 24-26-2 with 14 KOs. At 6'2" and 225lb, Cookie was certainly big enough to cause problems.

For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:

John Tate - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/430

Roy Wallace - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/99