The Michigan Daiiv
-- Friday. September 8. 1995 -- 23
' .. -. M.v hi~cn vD~i .. - riday. S .ntem yr. 1a
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Bolter Mathis dies of heart failure
~tEkAD 'IDS,, ich. (A P) -
er Mathi who lost a 1968 heavy-
htchamionshipbouttoJoe Frazier
086' I th-roundinockout, has died of
Srt failure. -Ie was 511
athis, fatfie'of fighter Buster Mathis
Jr. was found unconscious by his wife at
t home Wetnesday afternoon..Fam-
ii members andemergencyworkerstried
evive hinr but he was pronounced
at Butterworth Hospital.
Ps death cois less than two months
b re his soi is to fight forfner heavy-
, ht champion Mike Tyson. Mathis
I.Sid his fatfi 's death will not affect
)As for the N6,v. 4 bout in Las Vegas.
11 take a gouple of days off, do my
rn ng and 'everything I have to do,
then I'll be batk in the gym,' Mathis Jr.
said. "I've had 25 years of teaching
roini this mari so I've just got to put
everything to work."
Mathis' health problems began after
he ballooned to as much as 550 pounds
after his retirement in 1972. While a
national amateur champion and profes-
sional heavyweight contender, he fre-
quently weighed in at more than 260.
pounds.
Mathis was diagnosed about five
years ago with high blood pressure and
diabetes. Two strokes left him with
limited motor control on his left side
and forced him to use a walker. He also
suffered kidney failure three years ago
and had a pacemaker installed after a
1993 heart attack.
"He always said that he wasn't afraid
of dying," said his wife, Joan Mathis.
"And he had come so close to death so
many times.
"I think the fear of death in boxing is
different. He always said that ifyou had
no fear in boxing, you would not have
the protection. He understood death
from a biblical point of view. He under-
stood the Bible more than anyone ever
realized."
In 1968, Mathis challenged for the
heavyweight championship, losing to
Frazier on an 11 th-round knockout.
Mathis never challenged for the title
again.
In a 1971 comeback bout, he lost a
non-title decision to Muhammad Ali.
Mathis fought twice in 1972, then re-
tired with a 30-4 professional record.
Mathis Jr. said his father's declining
health in recent years made death a
periodic topic of conversation between
them.
"He said, 'Bus, when I die,just go on
- but nothing changes,"' he recalled.
Buster Mathis challenged Joe Frazier for the heavyweight title In 1968.
Vildngs
must deal .
With Lions
Sanders
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Wayne
Fontes and Barry Sanders were rook-
ies together back in 1989, a head coach
and his first draft choice trying to
rebuild the Detroit Lions.
Since then, Sanders has become one
of the greatest runners of all time, and
Fontes has become one of the most
maligned coaches of his time. His job
security seems to be in question a-
most as regularly as Sanders plays jo
the Pro Bowl.
If it weren't for Sanders, Fontes
might have been fired long ago in-
stead of getting a two-year contract
extension after last season. So when
Fontes said Sanders "is nowherenea"
his level of a year ago, when he *as
voted Associated Press offensive
player of the year, it was no surprise
to hear dejection in Fontes' voice.
"I just hate to say it," he moaned.
"Barry Sanders is nowhere near what
he was."
Fontes, of course, was kidding.
"I think he's a lot better. Barry gets
better with age. He's like wine.
"You get that bottle and you're sit-
ting home by the fire. You get one of
those cold Minnesota evenings, and
you get that wine glass and that chilled
wine and you open it and out co*
that aroma. That's Barry."
And that's what the Minnesota Vi-
kings are most worried about as they
prepare to host the Lions on Sunday
in an important early-season matchup
of NFC Central rivals who lost their
season openers.
The Chicago Bears ran for 143 yards
in a 31-14 victory over the Vikings
last week, the most rushing yards
against Minnesota since 1993. The
Bears did it with rookie Rashan S-
laam, Lewis Tillman and Robert
Green, none of whom compare to
Sanders, who opened the season with
108 yards on 21 carries against the
rugged Pittsburgh defense.
But Minnesota has done well against
Sanders the past six seasons, holding
him under 100 yards in eight of 11
games. Doing that again will be harder
this year without defensive tackle
Henry Thomas, who will return to the
Metrodome with the Lions, but the
Vikings know they must be better this
week.
"Everybody knows about Barry, it's
no secret," said safety Harlon Barnett.
"We just have to execute better, that's
all. Everybody has to understand
where they're supposed to be."
Neither of these teams are supposed
to be at the bottom of the Central
standings, but a loss Sunday will be
tough to overcome.
The Vikings play host to Dallas
next week before traveling to Pitts-
burgh. The Lions, who lost to thi'
Steelers on a last-second field goal,
are home against Arizona and San
Francisco in their next two games.
Barnett knows how tough it can be
to overcome a slow start, but he also
knows it can be done. He played with
New England last year when the Pa-
triots started 3-6 before winning their
last seven to reach the playoffs.
"We don't want to have to do that,;
Barnett said. "But the first two games
out of 16? We don't want to panic.
I'm expecting to get a great win this
week and shock everybody (against
Dallas) next week."
Along with Thomas, who had been
a Viking since he was drafted in the
third round in 1987, Minnesota also
lost defensive line coach John
Teerlinck to Detroit last off-season.
Teerlinck was brought in to install
a four-man defensive line in Detroit,
which had used a 3-4 scheme. The
unit had just one sack and gave up the
game-winning field goal drive last
week, but it forced four interceptions
and injured two Steeler quarterbacks.
"It allows me to run around a little
bit more instead of playing in that old
'34' and hitting those 300-pound guys
week in and week out," said Detroit
linebacker Chris Spielman. "Thatgets
a little old.
"This kind of fits our new persona-
ity. We want to be the kind of defense
that doesn't sit and read and react. We
want to go get upfield and make some-
thing happen."
The Vikings are looking forward tb
facing Thomas and Teerlinck.
Although All-Pro defensive tackle
John Randle played down the meet-
ing, he had a sign hanging in his
locker this week that read: "The Li-
ns and Teerlinck are coming."