Posted on 02/06/2021 7:42:47 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Leon Spinks – who won Olympic gold and then shocked the boxing world by beating Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight title in only his eighth pro fight – has died. He was 67.
Spinks, who lived his later years in Las Vegas, died on Friday night, according to a release from a public relations firm. He had contracted prostate and other cancers. His wife, Brenda Glur Spinks, and a few close friends and other family members were by his side when he died.
A much-loved heavyweight with a drinking problem, Spinks beat Ali by decision in a 12-round fight in 1978 to win the title. He was unranked at the time and picked as an opponent because Ali was looking for an easy fight.
He got anything but that, with an unorthodox Spinks swarming over Ali throughout the fight on his way to a stunning win by split decision. The two met seven months later in New Orleans, with Ali taking the decision before a record indoor boxing crowd of 72,000 and a national television audience estimated at 90 million people.
Speaking to the Observer in 2006, Spinks said he thought he won that second fight as well. “But they wanted Ali [to win],” he said. “It’s politics. It ain’t what you know but who you know.”
The promoter Bob Arum said on Saturday: “It was one of the most unbelievable things when Ali agreed to fight him because you look at the fights he had up to then and he was not only not a top contender but shouldn’t have been a contender at all. He was just an opponent but somehow he found a way to win that fight.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
its a know side effect of Covid
wasn’t there a controversy with a ‘brown bottle’ that some said had some kind of pain killer or something in it? or was that the brother Michael?
[[“Sugar Ray Leonard, Big John Tate, Leon and Michael Spinks.”
That was the US Boxing team? Holy crap.]]
Yeah, hardly any talent there at all lol
i watched both fights too- Douglas was on fire that night- and Mike it is claimed, was suffering from the flu- but i think even if he wasn’t- Douglas was gonna win that night- it JUST WAS HIS NIGHT- tOO BAD HE DIDN’T DO MUCH AFTER THE VICTORY Tthough, woops cps lock- I think he coulda been a terrific fighter if he had-
“I don’t have no toofus . . .” (tooths)
“Oh, right, Creepy Joe and the Ho are in charge now.”
The MSM aren’t killing famous persons by Covid anymore, it seems.
That 1976 Olympic boxing team won 5 gold medals, one silver, and one bronze. Spinks and his brother Michael both won gold. Clint Jackson was favored to win gold but was upset by a Venezuelan. Clint was later sent up river to serve a long prison term for a terrible extortion plot. Leon fared better.
Ali is the most overrated heavyweight ever. Mike Tyson in his prime would have whipped Ali’s ass.
That’s right, Douglas basically disappeared off the map after that
Don’t forget Howard Davis.
67? I didn’t realize how young he was when he took down Ali.
I agree with Tyson whipping Ali’s ass.
And the funny thing, I think Tysons power came from his ass. He would crouch down about one foot, and deliver that hook with so much power, with his butt launching it, like a mules kick. His opponents would be rolling on the floor for two or three minutes.
I remember a boxer George Cavallo. A Canadian.
He said he went the distance with Ali, pounding Ali with body shots, every round. Ali scoring points with his jabs.
He said Ali won the fight. After the fight, George took his girl out for a steak dinner and a night on the town. Ali spent three days in the hospital on pain killers.
RIP, and thanks for your service, Marine.
I LOVE how Larry King always manages to get into those boxing photos!
Yeah it w a s weird. That night though I think he was fighting for the memory of his recently deceased relative or something like that if I recall right, so he really gave it his all. But just weird they he gave up a really lucrative career by not trying hard after that fight
Ali was phenomenal with the punches he could endure and not show that they were doing damage. I think a lot of fighter got discouraged as he never seemed to be affected hardly.
The one thing though about fighting champions is hthtat the chslenger has to win decisiv e ly, by quite a bit. They have to soundly defeat a champ. Close fight usually always go to the defending champion, even if the cnallenger w as ahead on points, bit not enough for it to be overwhelmingly decisive.
Larry holds disagreed. He fought all the big fighters, even Tyson, and said Ali would have won against Tyson, and also said Tyson wasn’t the toughest fighter he had faced, he said Kenny Norton was. Even though Tyson knocked Holmes down 3 times In a round to win by two, Holmes still thought Ali would have prevailed clause of his technical skills and also because Ali could take a punch. George Forman w a s so feared for his power that folks thought he would kill someone in the ring. B7ut Ali took formans best shots and went on to win. Ali wasn’t over rated. He was in interviews with other groups of boxers after he retired, and they all were talking about how good he was. As a fighter, he was no slouch.
https://brobible.com/sports/article/larry-holmes-explains-muhammed-ali-beat-mike-tyson/
Geez ajtocorrect. Larry Holmes. And tko by Tyson.
The world’s best fighters pretty much all had much respect for ali and his skill. Even Frasier, who was a beast. Their fight in Manila I think it was sent them both to the hospital. Course the heat and humidity didn’t help much. But still, that was a very serious battle, and both fighters suffered a great deal fro it. Frasier acknowledged ali was the better fighter years later. Frasier was another fighter who would swing from a crouched position with tremendous power like Tyson did. Ali took it and prevailed. It was quite a fight.
RIP to the champ.
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