By Woodrow Carroll
Former heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks died last week. Few boxing insiders considered Spinks a ring great. What Spinks did have going for him was fortuitous timing and the ability to make news often for the wrong reason.
To say that Spinks was an unknown when he fought Muhammad Ali in 1978 for the heavyweight championship is incorrect. Spinks was the light heavyweight Gold Medalist in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Olympic Gold carries recognition.
In 1960 at the Rome Olympics, it was Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, who captured the light heavyweight championship. In terms of raw talent it was Sugar Ray Leonard, who won the Gold in Montreal as a light welterweight, who arguably made the most of his pugilistic skills as a pro. Yet, the Spinks brothers did their part in Montreal.
Leon’s younger brother, Michael, won the middleweight Gold in Montreal. And, in time, Michael laid claim to first the light heavyweight championship, then the heavyweight championship.
Oddly enough, Micheal Spinks’ record was 31-1 as a pro. In victory No. 28 as pro Michael Spinks captured the heavyweight championship with a unanimous 15-round decision over Larry Holmes. The Spinks victory ended Holmes’ heavyweight reign and 48-fight winning streak.
If Leon is best remembered for his upset of Ali then Michael set the stage in reverse.
Micheal Spinks’ 31st and final ring appearance was against young, and up and coming, heavyweight, Mike Tyson. The fight lasted less than one round, and with it, the pro career of Michael Spinks came to an end.
The image of Leon Spinks continues to captivate with the missing front teeth and quirky smile.
How did Leon Spinks merit a title fight? Spinks had only seven pro fights with a record of 6-0-1 entering the fight with Ali.
Ali was 36 years old when he climbed into the ring to face Spinks in February 1978. Wars with Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and George Foreman clearly had taken its toll. The fight went the full 15 rounds and the split decision was a Spinks’.
Later that year, Ali and Spinks squared off in a rematch in New Orleans. Ali was better prepared and easily won. Ali’s victory over Leon Spinks was the final victory for Ali in his long and glorious career. Ali’s final two pro fights were losses to Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Following the loss to Ali, it was downhill from there.
Leon Spinks had made a name for himself after fighting Ali. As such, a number of boxers were more than willing to fight the one-time champ. Spinks first fight after the Ali rematch was against South African Gerrie Coetzee.
Spinks was stopped in the first round.
In an attempt to regain the heavyweight championship, Spinks fought Larry Holmes in 1981. Holmes, the man who later twice lost to Spinks’ brother, Michael, made short work of Leon with a third round knockout.
Leon Spinks boxed into the mid-1990s. Defeats were as common as victories which his final record of 26-17-3 tells us.