Editing Leon Spinks (section)

===Career development===
{{main|Larry Holmes vs. Leon Spinks}}
[[File:Leon Spinks 2.jpg|thumb|250px|upright=3.|Spinks defeated Ray Kipping on June 19, 1995, in [[St. Louis]]]]
[[File:Leon Spinks 3.jpg|thumb|right|250px|upright=3.|Spinks during his final victory held at the "Little Bit of Texas" in St. Louis]]

Spinks's next fight, his only one in 1979, was at [[Monte Carlo]], where he was knocked out in the first round by future WBA world heavyweight champion [[Gerrie Coetzee]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brady |first1=Dave |title=Spinks Wasn't in Shape, Former Trainer Opines |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/06/26/spinks-wasnt-in-shape-former-trainer-opines/5886a451-b2ed-4ca2-a501-a24eccf11c48/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=February 7, 2021 |date=June 26, 1979}}</ref> In the following fight, Spinks defeated former world title challenger and European title holder [[Alfredo Evangelista]] by a knockout in round 5.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Nack |first1=William |title=Spinks was no sphinx |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1980/01/21/spinks-was-no-sphinx-inscrutable-leon-got-his-act-together-for-now-and-kod-alfredo-evangelista |magazine=Sports Illustrated |access-date=February 7, 2021 |language=en-us}}</ref> He then fought to a draw in with Eddie López,<ref>{{cite web |title=Whicker: Remembering Eddie Lopez, the animal who laughed |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/22/remembering-eddie-lopez-the-animal-who-laughed/ |website=Orange County Register |access-date=February 7, 2021 |date=July 23, 2017}}</ref> scored a knockout over Kevin Isaac in May,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Katz |first1=Michael |title=Leon Spinks in search of himself and title |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/08/sports/leon-spinks-in-search-of-himself-and-title.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=February 7, 2021 |date=June 8, 1981}}</ref> and, in October, beat the WBC's top-ranked challenger, [[Bernardo Mercado]], by a knockout in round nine on the undercard of [[Muhammad Ali vs. Larry Holmes]].<ref>{{cite news |title='U.S. Title' Captured By Spinks |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1980/10/03/us-title-captured-by-spinks/102bed64-72fb-4fc3-86a3-fd25fb5a79b5/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=February 7, 2021}}</ref>

His strong performance against Mercado earned Spinks a title match against [[Larry Holmes]]. In Spinks's only fight in 1981, on June 12 and what would be his last opportunity to win the heavyweight title, he took multiple punches without responding in the third round and the referee stopped the  fight.<ref>{{cite web |title=Larry Holmes knocks out Leon Spinks in third round for title |url=https://qconline.com/news/archives/1981-larry-holmes-knocks-out-leon-spinks-in-third-round-for-title/image_07c4cc28-7be9-54c4-9953-66616f273065.html |website=Dispatch Argus |date=June 11, 2020 |access-date=February 7, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>