Leon Spinks

Leon Spinks (born July 11, 1953 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former American boxer. He had an overall record of 26 wins, 17 losses and 3 draws as a professional, with 14 knockout wins, and was the former World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association heavyweight champion of the world. While still an amateur, he also became a member of the United States Marine Corps.

Spinks defeated 36 year old, Muhammad Ali, for the undisputed heavyweight championship in what was regarded as one of the bigger upsets in boxing, but later was stripped of the WBC title for fighting Ali in a rematch in a fight which he lost via 15-round unanimous decision. In addition to being heavyweight champion and a gap-toothed grin (due to Spinks losing two and later all four of his front teeth), Spinks has become just as famous for the fall from grace he suffered after his career took a downward slide following his loss to Ali.^[1]

He won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, alongside brother Michael Spinks, who also won a gold medal in those games. Two years earlier, at the inaugural 1974 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Havana, Cuba, he captured the bronze medal. His Olympic teammates included Sugar Ray Leonard, Leo Randolph and Howard Davis Jr.

Professional career

He debuted professionally on January 15, 1977 in Las Vegas, beating Bob Smith by a knockout in five rounds. His next fight, his debut abroad, was in Liverpool, England where he beat Scotty Child by a knockout in the first round. A couple of fights later, he saw a slight improvement in opposition quality, when he fought Pedro Agosto of Puerto Rico and knocked him out in the first. He then drew with Scott LeDoux and beat Italian champion Alfio Riguetti by a decision.

First Ali match

Spinks, then ranked among the world's heavyweight challengers, made history on February 15, 1978, when he beat Muhammad Ali in a 15-round decision in Las Vegas. Spinks won the world heavyweight title in only his eighth fight, the fastest ascent in history. An aging Ali had expected and wanted an easy fight, but he was out-hustled by Spinks, who did not seem to tire throughout the bout. It was one of the few occasions when Ali had left with a bruised and puffy face. Spinks victory over Ali was to be the peak of his career. Spinks became the only man to ever take a title belt from Muhammad Ali in the ring (Ali's other four losses were non-title contests). Spinks' iconic gap-toothed grin was featured on the cover of the February 19, 1978 issue of Sports Illustrated.

Spinks was subsequently stripped of his world title by the WBC for refusing to defend it against Ken Norton. Spinks instead agreed to fight a return bout against Ali for the WBA crown. The WBC thus stripped Spinks of the title and awarded it to Norton, retroactively designating his defeat of Jimmy Young in 1977 a title fight. Because of the WBC's action, Spinks was the last undisputed heavyweight champion until the emergence of Mike Tyson.

The Ali rematch

His second fight with Ali was very different from the first; Ali at 36 despite declining ability, was able to defeat the much younger Spinks rarely losing control of the match. Spinks lost the title to Ali in New Orleans at the Louisiana Superdome on September 15, 1978, by a unanimous fifteen-round decision. By regaining the title, Ali became the first three-time heavyweight champion.

The rest of career

In his next fight, his only bout in 1979, he went to Monte Carlo, where by surprise he was knocked out in the first round by future WBA world heavyweight champion Gerrie Coetzee. In 1980, Spinks beat former world title challenger and European title holderAlfredo Evangelista by a knockout in five rounds, boxed to a draw in ten with Eddie López, and beat the WBC's top-ranked challenger, Bernardo Mercado, by a knockout in nine. The Mercado fight took place on the night that Ali challenged WBC World champion Larry Holmes in a failed attempt to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title four times.

After the strong win over Mercado, Spinks earned a title bout against Holmes. In what was Spinks' only fight in 1981 and his last championship opportunity at heavyweight, but he was picked off expertly by the Champion and knocked out in the third round in Detroit on June 12.

It was also Spinks' last heavyweight bout for several years, as he moved down in weight and began boxing in the cruiserweight division. He beat fringe contender Ivy Brown by a decision in ten rounds, and former and future title challenger Jesse Burnett by decision in twelve rounds.

When his brother Michael defeated Holmes in a upset for the IBF heavyweight championship in 1985, Leon became half of the first pair of brothers to have held world heavyweight championships. Michael and Leon kept the distinction as the only pair until the Klitschko brothers joined them over a decade later.

Spinks competed in several boxer vs. wrestler matches in New Japan Pro Wrestling in the 1980s, including losing by submission to Antonio Inoki. In 1986 Spinks earned his last championship opportunity, as he took on Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the WBA cruiserweight championship. It was the second time that a fighter fought both Spinks brothers, as Qawi had been defeated by Michael Spinks three years earlier for his WBC light heavyweight championship. Unlike Michael, Leon was unable to defeat Qawi and lost by TKO in the sixth round. During the fight, Qawi taunted Spinks as he beat him mercilessly in a corner.

Spinks boxed for eight more years, with mixed results. In 1994 he lost a bout by KO to John Carlo, noteworthy for being the first time a former heavyweight champion had ever lost to a boxer making his pro debut. He retired at the age of 42 after losing by decision in eight to Fred Houpe in 1995, who was coming off a seventeen-year layoff.

Professional boxing record

Amateur career

• 1974, 1975, and 1976 National AAU light heavyweight champion
• Defeated future champion Michael Dokes for first AAU title in 1974

Olympic results

• Defeated Abellatif Fatihi (Morocco) KO 1
• Defeated Anatoly Klimanov (Soviet Union) 5-0
• Defeated Ottomar Sachse (East Germany) 5-0
• Defeated Janusz Gortat (Poland) 5-0
• Defeated Sixto Soria (Cuba) RSC 3

After boxing

During the 1990s, Spinks worked for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, winning its world title in 1992. In the late 1990s, Spinks was a headliner on year-round, touring autograph shows. Spinks was later brought into Extreme Championship Wrestling by promoter Paul Heyman as part of the buildup of Taz as a legitimate fighter, but according to Mick Foley nothing was ever made of the appearance, as Spinks' lone appearance at an ECW show resulted in him vomiting in a drunken stupor.

As of 2005, Spinks lives in Columbus, Nebraska. He told a reporter his life is "comfortable", and that he keeps a low profile.^[3]

Having trawled through all manner of odd-jobs — the most notable being a greeter at the Chicago restaurant owned by Hall of Fame American football coach Mike Ditka — Spinks now earns a living at his local McDonalds between working for the YMCA and running an after-school program for the youth of Nebraska.

"I love helping the kids," he says. He loves being a hero to them and he also still loves working a room.^[4]

Personal life

His son, Cory Spinks, held the undisputed welterweight title and was the International Boxing Federation Junior Middleweight champion in 2006 – 2008.

See also

• List of heavyweight boxing champions
• List of WBC world champions
• Notable boxing families

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Leon Spinks from BoxRec
• Leon Spinks' Amateur Boxing Record