Leon Spinks - Post Ali

[Robinson]

IN regard to the Gran man's thread, I was wondering what
you guys feels was Spink's best showing after his win and
loss to Ali.

[turn2stone]

i thought he was tough as nails against bernardo mercado, who had a pretty glossy record, on the ali-holmes undercard. it took about 8 months, but it led to his disaster against holmes.

[Robinson]

I have yet to have seen that fight. Will have to check it out.
Mercardo could whack out a mean punch.

[turn2stone]

im going off the memory of watching it on a large screen at an arena.....but it was close quarters and bombs away. it may have been the most exciting fight on the card. i only remember dokes vs roughhouse fischer and of course the pathetic main event.

[Goodnight, Irene]

I'm one of the unfortunate souls to have seen quite a bit of Spinks. The fight with Mercado is the obvious stand-out, & it was a performance which hinted at a talent never, in truth, realised. Not that he was all that talented, but whatever he had, he didn't tap it all. I've seen most of the Spinks-Mercado affair --- he did better than just about any other performance, period.

His only other quality winning efforts, IMO, were against Ali &, prior to that, against Pedro Agosto.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

Spink's best showing

- It goes without saying that Leon is a beloved, cherished fighter, but, blimey, he was dire.

Nary a game plan or strategy ever perplexed his brow. He just jumped in with his windmill until someone cracked his chin and that was usually it. His win over Ali exposed this shady era of dubious officiating that always favored Ali. When you can't even handle a Leon, man, it don't get no worse than that for a fighter.

Had a huge shaggy black lab I picked up at the pound that bore a lot of the same attributes. When awake, his mind and body operated at such a frentic pace that they shorted each other out, net result being he was all over the place never knowing what he was doing or where he was.

I remember out at the lake one day when he went straight up the face of a 15' sheer cliff like it was nothing in complete defiance of physics. He was too stupid to know he what he had just done, his Ali moment.

Beating Mercado nice, but the guy was already exposed by Tate and Weaver. He lucked into a barely beyond novice Berbick and a disheartened Shavers who was always shaky and coming off his failed title challenge to Holmes.

For me, the best of Leon was his cruiser challenge to Qawi. Man, he put Qawi TO WORK. Leon shows a lot of heart hanging in as long as he does. He was still young and at his natural weight of 190.

[hhaehre]

Spink's best showing

For me, the best of Leon was his cruiser challenge to Qawi. Man, he put Qawi TO WORK. Leon shows a lot of heart hanging in as long as he does. He was still young and at his natural weight of 190.

Are you kidding ? The Qawi fight was a disaster for Leon, he was beaten like a drum from start to finish. In no way was 190 Leons natural weight, he looked drained and did not have a leg under him. Spinks did nothing but take punishment in this fight, leaning back on the ropes while Qawi teed off on him. The fight should have been stopped after 4.

[HomicideHenry]

I always thought he was a flash in the pan myself, that the Ali fights were flukes, because at that point and time anyone, imo, could have defeated Ali. Against Coetzee he was pulverized in a single round, against Holmes he was slapped silly until being kayoed in the third. He was average at best, but that is just me.

[Flump]

He never really got the chance to have a conventional career, that and his unpredictable nature combined. Another decent win he had was over Evangelista, though he was getting pummeled in that fight too until he managed to turn it round.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

Spink's best showing

For me, the best of Leon was his cruiser challenge to Qawi. Man, he put Qawi TO WORK. Leon shows a lot of heart hanging in as long as he does. He was still young and at his natural weight of 190.

Are you kidding ? The Qawi fight was a disaster for Leon, he was beaten like a drum from start to finish. In no way was 190 Leons natural weight, he looked drained and did not have a leg under him. Spinks did nothing but take punishment in this fight, leaning back on the ropes while Qawi teed off on him. The fight should have been stopped after 4.

- When did Leon ever have a leg under him?

Leon was MAGNIFIQUE against Qawi, nobly exchanging shot for shot whilst pinned against the ropes in a completely hopeless cause.

He went out on his shield like a proper warrior. Yessiree, he was in the mid 190s through much of his first decade in boxing, so drying down 6-7 lbs to make a limit is nothing for a fighter of this size, not that his career would appreciably change much had he moved down earlier.

He was always gonna be Leon of Neon.

[cybox]

Leon was a classic case of being in the right place at the right time when he fought Ali. He was 19-17-2 after he beat Ali. He will always be a grand character of the sport though

[dempseyfire]

Spink's best showing

For me, the best of Leon was his cruiser challenge to Qawi. Man, he put Qawi TO WORK. Leon shows a lot of heart hanging in as long as he does. He was still young and at his natural weight of 190.

Are you kidding ? The Qawi fight was a disaster for Leon, he was beaten like a drum from start to finish. In no way was 190 Leons natural weight, he looked drained and did not have a leg under him. Spinks did nothing but take punishment in this fight, leaning back on the ropes while Qawi teed off on him. The fight should have been stopped after 4.

If you hang around here long enough you realize Broughton lives in his own made-up reality, just don't bother.

[hhaehre]

- When did Leon ever have a leg under him?

Leon was MAGNIFIQUE against Qawi, nobly exchanging shot for shot whilst pinned against the ropes in a completely hopeless cause.

He went out on his shield like a proper warrior. Yessiree, he was in the mid 190s through much of his first decade in boxing, so drying down 6-7 lbs to make a limit is nothing for a fighter of this size, not that his career would appreciably change much had he moved down earlier.

He was always gonna be Leon of Neon.

Well, if you think the mark of a great performance is taking a savage beating then I guess Leon is your man. In that respect he did a hell of a job against DeLeon too.

Going from beating Muhammad Ali for the title to losing by brutal ko in the first round against power lifter John Carlo in Carlos pro-debut boggles the mind. Has there ever been a greater fall from grace ? Maybe a 47 year old Quarry stumbling home from his last fight with his brain scrambled and his teeth knocked out or a brain damaged Rondon drinking himself to death in the same slums he came up from.

[The Great John L]

I always thought he was a flash in the pan myself, that the Ali fights were flukes, because at that point and time anyone, imo, could have defeated Ali. Against Coetzee he was pulverized in a single round, against Holmes he was slapped silly until being kayoed in the third. He was average at best, but that is just me.

Certainly he was in the right place at the right time, but let's not totally belittle what he accomplished. Yes, Ali was pretty much shot, but Leon was able to execute a well planned game plan and fight at a very fast pace for 15 rounds. While Ali could have been beaten that night by others in the division, I'm pretty confident that many would not have been able to keep up the pace that Spinks did and would have found a way to lose a close (controversial?) decision as they faded down the stretch. Certainly it was his night and he brought what he needed to to the ring, hurt Ali on several ocassions, and basically beat the hell out of him.

[hhaehre]

I always thought he was a flash in the pan myself, that the Ali fights were flukes, because at that point and time anyone, imo, could have defeated Ali. Against Coetzee he was pulverized in a single round, against Holmes he was slapped silly until being kayoed in the third. He was average at best, but that is just me.

Certainly he was in the right place at the right time, but let's not totally belittle what he accomplished. Yes, Ali was pretty much shot, but Leon was able to execute a well planned game plan and fight at a very fast pace for 15 rounds. While Ali could have been beaten that night by others in the division, I'm pretty confident that many would not have been able to keep up the pace that Spinks did and would have found a way to lose a close (controversial?) decision as they faded down the stretch. Certainly it was his night and he brought what he needed to to the ring, hurt Ali on several ocassions, and basically beat the hell out of him.

No argument on the beating Leon dished out and the pace a young Spinks was able to maintain. However and in retrospect I don't think this was Leon executing some finely honed plan to perfection. This was basically the way he always fought and it worked great against a shot Ali who at this point had very little on his punches. The curious part is that the two Ali-Spinks fights are pretty entertaining considering that one fighter was totally shot and the other was an inexperienced fringe contender at best.

[The Great John L]

No argument on the beating Leon dished out and the pace a young Spinks was able to maintain. However and in retrospect I don't think this was Leon executing some finely honed plan to perfection. This was basically the way he always fought and it worked great against a shot Ali who at this point had very little on his punches. The curious part is that the two Ali-Spinks fights are pretty entertaining considering that one fighter was totally shot and the other was an inexperienced fringe contender at best.

Actually, I think it was Spinks trainers utilizing his aggressive style with a game plan of attacking Ali's arms, hips and shoulders. For this fight Spinks threw a large number of punches directly at Ali's arms and shoulders intended to wear Ali down. It was a slightly different Leon than most of us were used to, and he fought very well. Had Shavers done the same thing he very well may have stopped Ali.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

It was a slightly different Leon than most of us were used to

- Yeah, early Leon of Neon before his debut of The Funk-Brotha Chicken Dance of Death we all knew and loved.

Brilliant p4p, IBHOF quality stuff you come up with.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

Well, if you think the mark of a great performance is taking a savage beating then I guess Leon is your man.

- My friend, Leon of Neon will always be The Man, not merely "my man."

Kind of like Mr. Evan H. Field who also took a savage beating in winning his split over Qawi in Dwight's very next bout. Qawi can only go 15-10 after absorbing Leon's best, never winning another title bout, proof positive that he and Leon left their best in the ring that fateful day..... 8)

[The Great John L]

It was a slightly different Leon than most of us were used to

- Yeah, early Leon of Neon before his debut of The Funk-Brotha Chicken Dance of Death we all knew and loved.

Brilliant p4p, IBHOF quality stuff you come up with.

Yes I see that subtleties can be lost on the ignorant.

[hhaehre]

Well, if you think the mark of a great performance is taking a savage beating then I guess Leon is your man.

- My friend, Leon of Neon will always be The Man, not merely "my man."

Kind of like Mr. Evan H. Field who also took a savage beating in winning his split over Qawi in Dwight's very next bout. Qawi can only go 15-10 after absorbing Leon's best, never winning another title bout, proof positive that he and Leon left their best in the ring that fateful day..... 8)

Yeah Neon beat the hell out of Dwight's hands with his face, them hands were never the same again :)

[tennessee]

the first ali fight, leon had a great corner and game plan, beat those arms. then fired his trainer and went downhill. i read about an interview with spinks and he gave it while smoking. good lesson kids, cant beat ali and smoke.

[giottolo]

In our blog (a Sport History blog) we wrote an article right about Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali on February 15th 1978.
The article is written in Italian language, but here is the link translated in English automatically:

http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... n%26sa%3DG

Thanks to everybody