Leon Spinks

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox boxer Leon Spinks (July 11, 1953 – February 5, 2021) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1995. In only his eighth professional fight, he won the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1978 after defeating Muhammad Ali in a split decision, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Spinks was later stripped of the WBC title for facing Ali in an unapproved rematch seven months later, which he lost by a unanimous decision.

Besides being heavyweight champion and his characteristic gap-toothed grin (due to losing two and later all four of his front teeth), Spinks gained notoriety for the disaster which befell his career following his loss to Ali.<ref>"Riches to rags" The Boston Globe, December 21, 2005</ref> However, he did challenge once more for the WBC heavyweight title in 1981 (losing to Larry Holmes by TKO in the third round), and the WBA cruiserweight title in 1986 (losing to Dwight Muhammad Qawi by TKO in the sixth round).

As an amateur, Spinks won numerous medals in the light heavyweight division. The first was bronze at the inaugural 1974 World Championships, followed by silver at the 1975 Pan American Games, and gold at the 1976 Summer Olympics; the latter alongside his brother Michael Spinks, who won middleweight gold. Leon served in the United States Marine Corps from 1973 to 1976, rising to the rank of corporal. He was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and was on the Marine Corps Boxing Team.<ref name=barber>Barber, James. "How the Marine Corps Gave Leon Spinks His Shot at Greatness", Military.com website, February 8, 2021. Accessed February 14, 2021.</ref>

Spinks also had a brief career as a professional wrestler from 1986, 1990 to 1993. He mainly worked for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and holding the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship in 1992.<ref name="auto">Pro Wrestling Illustrated, March 1993 issue, p. 27.</ref>

Amateur career

Spinks won three consecutive national AAU light heavyweight championships from 1974 to 1976, the first of which came against future champion Michael Dokes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was serving in the Marine Corps at the time.<ref name=barber/>

Olympic results

Spinks won the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He defeated Abdel Latif Fatihi from Morocco, Soviet-Ukrainian Anatoliy Klimanov, East-German Ottomar Sachse and Janusz Gortat from Poland en route to the final, where he defeated Cuba's Sixto Soria to win the gold.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Spinks finished his amateur career with a record of 178–7 with 133 knockouts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Professional career

Spinks debuted professionally on January 15, 1977, in Las Vegas, Nevada, beating Bob Smith by knockout in five rounds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His next fight was in Liverpool, England, where he beat Peter Freeman by a first-round knockout.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Later, he saw an improvement in opposition quality, when he fought Pedro Agosto of Puerto Rico and knocked him out in round one.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He then fought Scott LeDoux to a draw and defeated Italian champion Alfio Righetti in a decision.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Spinks vs. Ali

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} At the time a lower-ranked contender, he made history on February 15, 1978, by decisively beating Muhammad Ali on a 15-round split decision, that was in actuality fairly one-sided, in Las Vegas, Nevada.<ref name="espn">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Spinks won the world heavyweight title in his eighth professional fight, the shortest span in history.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The aging Ali had expected an easy fight, but he was out-boxed by Spinks, who did not tire throughout the bout and had Ali ready to fall in the last seconds of the fight.<ref name="espn" /> It was one of the few occasions when Ali left the ring with a bruised and puffy face.

The victory over Ali was the peak of Spinks's career.<ref name="espn" /> He was the only man to take a title from Muhammad Ali in the ring, as Ali's other losses were non-title contests or bouts where Ali was the challenger. Spinks's gap-toothed grin was featured on the cover of the February 19, 1978 issue of Sports Illustrated.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

However, Spinks was stripped of his world title by the WBC for refusing to defend it against Ken Norton, instead agreeing to a return bout against Ali to defend his WBA crown.<ref name="espn" /> The title, stripped from Spinks, was then awarded to Norton.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Rematch

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} His second match with Ali, at the Louisiana Superdome on September 15, 1978, went badly for Spinks. A now-in-shape Ali—with better, sharper tactics—rarely lost control, winning back his title by a unanimous fifteen-round decision.<ref name="espn" /> Ali regained the title, becoming the first three-time lineal heavyweight champion.<ref name=CBZ>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Spinks was never given a rematch; Ali retired after the fight (although he came out of retirement a few years later to fight Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick).

Career development

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File:Leon Spinks 2.jpg

Spinks defeated Ray Kipping on June 19, 1995, in St. Louis

File:Leon Spinks 3.jpg

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>Template:Cite news</ref> In the following fight, Spinks defeated former world title challenger and European title holder Alfredo Evangelista by a knockout in round 5.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He then fought to a draw in with Eddie López,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> scored a knockout over Kevin Isaac in May,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</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>Template:Cite news</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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Move to cruiserweight

It was Spinks's last heavyweight bout for years, as he began boxing in the cruiserweight division. He beat contender Ivy Brown by a decision in ten rounds,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and gained a decision against former and future title challenger Jesse Burnett in twelve rounds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Spinks was due to face the World Cruiserweight number one David Pearce, but the fight was called off on 24 hours notice after the fighters had both weighed in, due to the BBBoC stance on Pearce fighting abroad in the newly formed Cruiserweight division.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

When his brother Michael Spinks defeated Larry Holmes in a controversial upset for the IBF heavyweight championship in 1985, they became the only brothers to have held world heavyweight championships. They kept the distinction until the Klitschko brothers became champions two decades later.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 1980s Leon Spinks competed in several boxer vs. wrestler matches in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), including losing by submission to Antonio Inoki.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1986 Spinks earned his last championship opportunity, fighting Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the WBA cruiserweight championship.<ref name="cbs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Qawi had been defeated by Michael Spinks three years earlier for his WBC light heavyweight championship. However, Leon lost by TKO in the sixth round.<ref name="cbs"/>

Spinks boxed for another eight years with mixed results. In 1994 he lost a bout by KO to John Carlo, the first time a former heavyweight champion had lost to a boxer making his pro debut (promoter Charles Farrell later admitted to falsifying Carlo's record in order to get the fight sanctioned by the District of Columbia).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Spinks retired at age 42, after losing an 8-round decision to Fred Houpe in 1995, who was coming off a seventeen-year hiatus.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Professional wrestling career

On October 9, 1986, Spinks lost to Japanese legend Antonio Inoki in a mixed martial arts fight for New Japan Pro Wrestling.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Spinks made an appearance for the United States Wrestling Association on June 25, 1990, where he lost to Jerry Lawler by disqualification.

In 1991, Spinks made his debut in Japan for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) teaming with fellow boxer Rufus Blackborn. He later teamed with Dr. Luther in 1992. On March 25, 1992, he defeated Tarzan Goto for the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He would drop the title to Atsushi Onita on May 24, 1992. In 1993, he feuded with Terry Funk and retired from wrestling later that year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Life after boxing

During the 1990s, Spinks worked for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, winning its world title in 1992, making him only the second man (after Primo Carnera) to hold titles in both boxing and wrestling.<ref name="auto"/> In the late 1990s, Spinks was a headliner on year-round, touring autograph shows. In 2005 Spinks was living in Columbus, Nebraska, working as a janitor at a YMCA and at a McDonald's.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2009, Spinks was featured as part of the 2009 documentary Facing Ali, in which notable former opponents of Ali speak about how fighting Ali changed their lives.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Spinks lived later in his life in Las Vegas, Nevada. He told a reporter his life was "comfortable", and that he kept a low profile.<ref>Steve Sipple, "Ex-champ Leon Spinks cleans up in Columbus". Lincoln Journal Star, April 4, 2005.</ref>

In August 2017, Leon was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame along with his brother, Michael.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life and health

Spinks was born and raised in St. Louis.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Leon's son, Cory Spinks, held the undisputed welterweight title, and was the IBF junior middleweight champion twice.

In 1990, Leon's other son, Leon Calvin, was shot to death in East St. Louis as he was driving home from his girlfriend's house.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Calvin was an aspiring light heavyweight pro boxer with a record of 2–0, with the two pro bouts occurring only a month before he died.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Leon's grandson and Calvin's son, Leon Spinks III, is an aspiring light heavyweight southpaw boxer with a pro record of 11–3–1 with seven knockouts, his last outing being a six-round draw with Robbie Cannon in October 2017.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Spinks perceptibly slurred his words after his active boxing days, and was diagnosed in 2012 with shrinkage in his brain, which doctors said was likely caused by the accumulated punches that he took during his career. In 2011, Spinks and his wife Brenda moved to Las Vegas. Spinks was hospitalized twice in 2014 in a Las Vegas hospital for surgery due to abdominal problems, from which he recovered.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2019, it was revealed that Spinks was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He died at a hospital in Henderson, Nevada on February 5, 2021, at age 67.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
46	Template:No2Loss	Template:Nowrap	Fred Houpe	UD	8	Dec 4, 1995	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	26–16–3	Ray Kipping	UD	8	Jun 19, 1995	Template:Small
44	Template:No2Loss	25–16–3	John Carlo	KO	1, Template:Small	Oct 22, 1994	Template:Small
43	Template:No2Loss	25–15–3	Shane Sutcliffe	UD	8	Oct 1, 1994	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	25–14–3	Eddie Curry	Template:Abbr	9 (10)	Jun 22, 1994	Template:Small	Template:Small
41	Template:No2Loss	24–14–3	James Wilder	PTS	10	Feb 27, 1993	Template:Small
40	Template:Yes2Win	24–13–3	Kevin Poindexter	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Dec 11, 1992	Template:Small
39	Template:No2Loss	23–13–3	Kevin Porter	PTS	10	Sep 26, 1992	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	23–12–3	Jack Jackson	KO	3 (10), Template:Small	Jul 24, 1992	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	22–12–3	Rocky Bentley	Template:Abbr	10	Jun 17, 1992	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	21–12–3	Rick Myers	UD	10	Mar 20, 1992	Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	20–12–3	Andre Crowder	SD	10	Feb 28, 1992	Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	19–12–3	Lupe Guerra	KO	3 (10), Template:Small	Nov 15, 1991	Template:Small
33	Template:No2Loss	18–12–3	Tony Morrison	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	May 30, 1988	Template:Small
32	Template:No2Loss	18–11–3	Randall Cobb	Template:Abbr	10	Mar 18, 1988	Template:Small
31	Template:No2Loss	18–10–3	Ladislao Mijangos	SD	10	Dec 20, 1987	Template:Small
30	Template:No2Loss	18–9–3	Terry Mims	SD	10	Oct 20, 1987	Template:Small
29	Template:DrawDraw	18–8–3	Jim Ashard	SD	10	Aug 29, 1987	Template:Small
28	Template:No2Loss	18–8–2	Angelo Musone	KO	7 (10)	May 22, 1987	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	18–7–2	Jeff Jordan	SD	12	Apr 28, 1987	Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:No2Loss	17–7–2	José Ribalta	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Jan 17, 1987	Template:Small
25	Template:No2Loss	17–6–2	Rocky Sekorski	TKO	6 (10), Template:Small	Aug 2, 1986	Template:Small
24	Template:No2Loss	17–5–2	Dwight Muhammad Qawi	TKO	6 (15), Template:Small	Mar 22, 1986	Template:Small	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	17–4–2	Kip Kane	TKO	8 (12), Template:Small	Dec 13, 1985	Template:Small	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	16–4–2	Tom Franco Thomas	UD	10	Jun 29, 1985	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	15–4–2	Tom Fischer	UD	10	May 9, 1985	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	14–4–2	Rick Kellar	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	Apr 9, 1985	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	13–4–2	Lupe Guerra	TKO	4 (10), Template:Small	Feb 21, 1985	Template:Small
18	Template:No2Loss	12–4–2	Carlos de León	Template:Abbr	6 (10), Template:Small	Mar 6, 1983	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	12–3–2	Jesse Burnett	UD	12	Oct 31, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	11–3–2	Ivy Brown	UD	10	Feb 24, 1982	Template:Small
15	Template:No2Loss	10–3–2	Larry Holmes	TKO	3 (15), Template:Small	Jun 12, 1981	Template:Small	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	10–2–2	Bernardo Mercado	TKO	9 (12), Template:Small	Oct 2, 1980	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	9–2–2	Kevin Isaac	TKO	8 (10), Template:Small	May 3, 1980	Template:Small
12	Template:DrawDraw	8–2–2	Eddie López	SD	10	Mar 8, 1980	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	8–2–1	Alfredo Evangelista	KO	5 (10), Template:Small	Jan 12, 1980	Template:Small
10	Template:No2Loss	7–2–1	Gerrie Coetzee	TKO	1 (12), Template:Small	Jun 24, 1979	Template:Small
9	Template:No2Loss	7–1–1	Muhammad Ali	UD	15	Sep 15, 1978	Template:Small	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	7–0–1	Muhammad Ali	Template:Abbr	15	Feb 15, 1978	Template:Small	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	6–0–1	Alfio Righetti	Template:Abbr	10	Nov 18, 1977	Template:Small
6	Template:DrawDraw	5–0–1	Scott LeDoux	Template:Abbr	10	Oct 22, 1977	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Bruce Scott	KO	3 (8), Template:Small	Jun 1, 1977	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Pedro Agosto	KO	1 (8), Template:Small	May 7, 1977	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Jerry McIntyre	KO	1 (6), Template:Small	Mar 20, 1977	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Peter Freeman	Template:Abbr	1 (6), Template:Small	Mar 5, 1977	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Bob Smith	Template:Abbr	5 (6), Template:Small	Jan 15, 1977	Template:Small

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

• NBA (WBA) heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)
• WBC heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)

The Ring magazine titles

• The Ring heavyweight champion (200+ lbs)

Regional/International titles

• NABF cruiserweight champion (200 lbs)
• WBC Continental Americas heavyweight champion (200+ lbs) (2×)

Undisputed titles

• Undisputed heavyweight champion

See also

• List of heavyweight boxing champions
• List of undisputed world boxing champions
• List of WBC world champions
• List of WBC world champions
• List of The Ring world champions
• Notable boxing families

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:BoxRec
• Leon Spinks—CBZ Profile
• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 1324325

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