Editing Michael Spinks (section)

==Professional career==
===Early years===
Spinks then turned professional with a win over Eddie Benson, knocking him out in one round on April 17, 1977, in [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]]. With that, Spinks began a 31 fight winning streak that would almost extend to the end of his career. After four more wins, Spinks finished '77 with the first fight that began a gradual ascent in opposition quality: an eight-round decision over Gary Summerhays, a popular young boxer of the time.

In 1978, Spinks won two fights, including an eight-round decision over former world Middleweight title challenger Tom Bethea, in the same undercard where his brother Leon dethroned Ali as world Heavyweight champion in Las Vegas.

1979 saw Spinks get less than three minutes of boxing action inside a ring, with his only fight ending in a first round [[knockout]] of Marc Hans, but in 1980, Spinks took his ascent towards the top to another level, when he beat future IBF super-middleweight champion Murray Sutherland, David Conteh, and fringe contenders Ramon Ronquillo and Alvaro Yaqui Lopez (who challenged for a world title four times). Of his five wins that year, three came by knockout, Sutherland and Johnny Wilburn being the only ones who lasted the distance.

===First world title===
By 1981, Spinks was already a top ranked contender, and after beating former and future world light-heavyweight champion [[Marvin Johnson (boxer)|Marvin Johnson]] by a knockout in four rounds, the [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] made Spinks their number one challenger, and so, on July 18 of that year, he met WBA light-heavyweight champion [[Eddie Mustafa Muhammad]], once again in Las Vegas. Spinks dropped Mustafa Muhammad in round 12 and went on to become the WBA light heavyweight champion with a 15-round decision win. He defended the title once in '81, beating Vonzell Johnson by a knockout in seven.

1982 began with a knockout victory over Mustafa Wassaja. Spinks had become a superstar, at least in the boxing world. He began appearing on the covers of boxing magazines and boxing fans started clamoring for a unification fight with [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] champion [[Dwight Muhammad Qawi]]. Tragedy struck his life, however, when in January 1983, his 24-year-old wife, Sandy Massey, died in a car crash, leaving Spinks the single parent of his two-year-old daughter, Michelle.

===Spinks vs Qawi===
{{Main|Michael Spinks vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi}}
Meanwhile, the fight all the fans wanted was being asked for by boxing critics and magazine editors, too. On March 18, two months after his wife's death, Spinks and Qawi met in a boxing ring for the undisputed light heavyweight championship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/lheavy.htm|title=The Lineal Light Heavyweight Champions|publisher=The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia}}</ref> The fight was broadcast by [[HBO World Championship Boxing]], and, according to the book ''[[The Ring: Boxing the 20th Century]]'', Spinks had a very tough moment to overcome before it even started: His daughter asked him, while he was in his dressing room, if her mother would come to watch the fight. After breaking into tears he composed himself and dominated the fight with his jab and plenty of strategic hooks and crosses. He repeatedly stopped Qawi in his tracks over the first 11 rounds but cautiously waited for Qawi to come out of his crouched defense to resume his assault. Qawi scored a knockdown in round eight. The official scores were 144–140, 144–141, and 144–141, all for Spinks, who was now the undisputed world Light Heavyweight champion. He defended the title one more time before the end of the year, against [[Oscar Rivadeneira]], whom he beat by a ten-round knockout.

Spinks fought only once in 1984, retaining his crown with a twelve-round majority decision over [[Eddie Davis (boxer)|Eddie Davis]]. He and Qawi were only a couple of weeks away from fighting a rematch in September of that year, but that fight got called off when Qawi was injured during training. Spinks also was recognized as IBF Light heavyweight champion in 1984.

===Holmes vs Spinks===
{{Main|Larry Holmes vs. Michael Spinks }}
In 1985, Spinks beat David Sears and Jim McDonald, both by knockout, in title defenses, before challenging [[Larry Holmes]] for the [[International Boxing Federation|IBF]] and lineal heavyweight championship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/achamp.htm |title=The Lineal Heavyweight Champions |publisher=The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603092447/http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/achamp.htm |archive-date=2009-06-03 }}</ref> Holmes was trying to tie [[Rocky Marciano]]'s record of 49–0 as the heavyweight champion, but it was Spinks who made history that night, winning a controversial and narrow fifteen-round unanimous decision and becoming the first ever world light-heavyweight champion to win the world heavyweight title.  His controversial victory over Holmes was named [[Ring Magazine upsets of the year#1980s|''Ring Magazine'' Upset of the Year]]. With this, Michael and Leon had also become the first pair of brothers ever to be world heavyweight champions, followed two decades later by Wladimir and [[Vitali Klitschko]].

===Heavyweight champion===
{{main|Michael Spinks vs. Larry Holmes II|Michael Spinks vs. Steffen Tangstad|Michael Spinks vs. Gerry Cooney}}
In 1986, Spinks and Holmes fought a rematch as part of the [[heavyweight unification series]], and had nearly the same result, this time Spinks winning by a 15-round split decision. After that, he retained the world heavyweight championship once again, by a knockout in four against [[Steffen Tangstad]]. In 1987 he was stripped of the crown by the IBF for refusing to fight their [[mandatory challenger]], [[Tony Tucker]], and accepting a higher offer to fight [[Gerry Cooney]] instead. Spinks knocked out Cooney in five rounds, and after [[Mike Tyson]] had unified the heavyweight belts, fans started clamoring for a fight between them as many still recognized Spinks as the legitimate lineal champion.

===Spinks vs Tyson===
{{Main|Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks}}
The fight between Spinks and Mike Tyson took place in June 1988, with Tyson knocking Spinks down twice on his way to a first-round knockout. Tyson and [[Dwight Muhammad Qawi]] were the only fighters to officially floor Spinks. It was Spinks's first defeat in the professional ring, and his last, as he retired following the fight. In this fight he was badly affected by fear.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Norris|first=Luke|date=2020-04-01|title=Why Michael Spinks Didn't Want to Leave His Dressing Room to Fight Mike Tyson|url=https://www.sportscasting.com/why-michael-spinks-didnt-want-to-leave-his-dressing-room-to-fight-mike-tyson/|access-date=2020-11-05|website=Sportscasting {{!}} Pure Sports|language=en-US}}</ref>

Spinks had a record of 31 wins and 0 losses, prior to the fight, with 21 wins by knockout as a professional, and still held [[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]] magazine heavyweight title, and had a legitimate claim to the [[Lineal championship|Lineal heavyweight championship]], for he never had been beaten for his title before them being stripped from him. And he only lost recognition for both when he lost to Tyson.

In addition to his success as a heavyweight, Spinks is generally considered one of the greatest light-heavyweight champions and fighters of all time. He was the only light-heavyweight champion to remain undefeated in the entire history of the division since its inception in 1903 (until [[Joe Calzaghe]]), as well as the only reigning light-heavyweight champion to win the heavyweight title.

''[[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]]'' Magazine in 2002 ranked Spinks as the third greatest light-heavyweight of all time, behind [[Ezzard Charles]] and [[Archie Moore]], but ahead of [[Tommy Loughran]], [[Bob Foster (boxer)|Bob Foster]], [[Harold Johnson (boxer)|Harold Johnson]], [[Maxie Rosenbloom]] and [[Billy Conn]]. Furthermore, Spinks did what no other light-heavyweight champion had ever done up to that point: move up to win the world heavyweight championship, by decisioning IBF champion [[Larry Holmes]] in 1985.<ref>BoxRec, [http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Division-By-Division_-_The_Greatest_Fighters_of_All-Time Division-By-Division - The Greatest Fighters of All-Time, As selected by The Ring magazine in various years, Lt Heavyweights], September 2002 Issue</ref>

On ''The Ring'' Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, Spinks was ranked 42nd.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The 100 Greatest Punchers of All-Time! |journal=The Ring Yearbook: 2003 Edition |date=October 2003 |page=96 |url=http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_100_Greatest_Punchers_of_All-Time!}}</ref>

On ''The Ring'' Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years, released in 2002, Spinks ranked 41st.<ref>[http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_80_Best_Fighters_of_the_Last_80_Years The 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years, as selected by the ''Ring'' Magazine in the Annual 2002 Volume II Issue]</ref>

East Side Boxing said in its tribute to Spinks, "Michael Spinks went undefeated fighting during the deepest era in Light Heavyweight history. And he beat the real heavyweight champion to win the title, who was also undefeated. Michael Spinks is the most accomplished light heavyweight champion in history."<ref>Lotierzo, Franbk [http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=1985&more=1? "Michael Spinks: An Appreciation"]</ref>