Leon Spinks RIP

[THEBUTCH]

RIP. Will always be remembered for beating Muhammed Ali after a mere 7 fights !

[handsofstone]

RIP Neon Leon

[bennie]

I remember him winning the world title against Ali in just his eighth pro outing in February 1978. Spinks had been held to a draw by the strong but limited Scott LeDoux a couple of fights earlier in his first 10-rounder and then laboured to outscore Italy's virtually unknown Alfio Righetti in another 10-rounder. Nobody gave Leon a chance but his brother Michael took time out from his own boxing career to guide and look after him and the upshot was a 15-round whirlwind display from the challenger, who attacked hard and outworked a fading Ali. A big last round took Leon to the undisputed world heavyweight title on a split decision. If they put the same storyline in a movie, nobody would believe it.
Sadly, the easily led Spinks went off the rails after his triumph. He partied so much he was dubbed "Neon" Leon, woke up in seedy motels bereft of his money (and on one occasion, his gold teeth), hired Mr T. as a bodyguard, lost his WBC title when it was awarded to Ken Norton, smashed up a succession of cars... The champion was out of control and a rematch with Ali in New Orleans for the WBA title went Ali's way from the start. Spinks had nothing.
Inevitably, Leon traded on his name and battled on. He even earned a second shot at a world title against Larry Holmes in Detroit in 1981 but Holmes, who took a real dislike to Spinks, punched him to a standstill in three rounds. (Bizarrely, Gerry Cooney can be seen amid the ringside photographers taking photos). Spinks dropped down to cruiserweight and earned a third world title shot against Dwight Muhammad Qawi in 1986 but took an horrendous beating before it was stopped in the sixth round. Leon was finished at that point, although it took him 10 years to finally realize it as he trudged on and on.

[DrDuke]

I'll remember him not only for his Ali win, but also for his charisma and grotesque toothless smile.



RIP, Leon.

[Frostieballs]

I remember him winning the world title against Ali in just his eighth pro outing in February 1978. Spinks had been held to a draw by the strong but limited Scott LeDoux a couple of fights earlier in his first 10-rounder and then laboured to outscore Italy's virtually unknown Alfio Righetti in another 10-rounder. Nobody gave Leon a chance but his brother Michael took time out from his own boxing career to guide and look after him and the upshot was a 15-round whirlwind display from the challenger, who attacked hard and outworked a fading Ali. A big last round took Leon to the undisputed world heavyweight title on a split decision. If they put the same storyline in a movie, nobody would believe it.
Sadly, the easily led Spinks went off the rails after his triumph. He partied so much he was dubbed "Neon" Leon, woke up in seedy motels bereft of his money (and on one occasion, his gold teeth), hired Mr T. as a bodyguard, lost his WBC title when it was awarded to Ken Norton, smashed up a succession of cars... The champion was out of control and a rematch with Ali in New Orleans for the WBA title went Ali's way from the start. Spinks had nothing.
Inevitably, Leon traded on his name and battled on. He even earned a second shot at a world title against Larry Holmes in Detroit in 1981 but Holmes, who took a real dislike to Spinks, punched him to a standstill in three rounds. (Bizarrely, Gerry Cooney can be seen amid the ringside photographers taking photos). Spinks dropped down to cruiserweight and earned a third world title shot against Dwight Muhammad Qawi in 1986 but took an horrendous beating before it was stopped in the sixth round. Leon was finished at that point, although it took him 10 years to finally realize it as he trudged on and on.

Nice summary Bennie. As always.

[bennie]

Spinks should be best remembered as one of the American dream team in the 1976 Olympics. Leon won light-heavyweight gold, stopping Cuba's Sixto Soria in three rounds, and his brother Michael won middleweight gold. Sugar Ray Leonard, Howard Davis and Leo Randolph also won gold.

[Tuan_Jim]

Sad news, though I was surprised he survived as long as he did, being arguably the most self-destructive fighter ever.

He had the perfect camp and took boxing seriously for one fight and the result was a wonderful performance against a waning Ali. He was too crazy to develop or mature so unfortunately he was mixing it up with the likes of Coetzee, Mercado, Holmes et al when he should have been quietly built back up.

His foray into the cruiserweights was a disaster and he should have retired there and then, although he did later find some of the old fire for Tex Cobb. RIP Neon Leon!

[Old bones Ian]

Seems strange to label someone a wasted talent when they won Olympic Gold, undisputed Heavy title and beat one of the greatest boxers of all time.

R.I.P Leon

[Coco]

Seems strange to label someone a wasted talent when they won Olympic Gold, undisputed Heavy title and beat one of the greatest boxers of all time.

R.I.P Leon

Demonstrates what talent he had

[Tuan_Jim]

Seems strange to label someone a wasted talent when they won Olympic Gold, undisputed Heavy title and beat one of the greatest boxers of all time.

R.I.P Leon

Demonstrates what talent he had

And what talent he squandered

[bennie]

Leon spent the last 10 years of his life married to Brenda, a strong woman who truly cared for him. Before Brenda, he had no direction whatsoever in his life and wound up cleaning toilets to get by. Brenda gave him the stability he never had, gave him some belated happiness.

[Coco]

My ex amateur coach was talking to me once about the 76 Olympics, saying that despite the eastern bloc fighters being so technically correct, the Spinks brothers were beasts, proper strong and like wild animals.

[dookus]

RIP champ

[stujones]

I really enjoy the Spinks vs Ali 2 fights. How was fight 1 a split decision I do not know and how Ali turned back the clock in fight 2, with all his health troubles was remarkable. I do wonder how that Ali would have failed against Holmes/Norton of 1978.

It was a real shame how Spinks career fell apart after the first Ali fight. Yes, we can state Ali wasnt a well man who was also lacking in motivation, but I dont think we should detract that Spinks, for that one night, showed a work ethic and skill set was world class and might have given other champions some contest. How would that Soinks faired against Weaver, Dokes, Tate etc .

[bennie]

My ex amateur coach was talking to me once about the 76 Olympics, saying that despite the eastern bloc fighters being so technically correct, the Spinks brothers were beasts, proper strong and like wild animals.

Mike Spinks is remembered for one fight and one fight only: the Mike Tyson fight. The man won Olympic gold, the WBA light-heavyweight title, of which he made 10 defences, unified the belts by defeating Dwight Braxton, moved up to heavyweight and twice beat Larry Holmes, destroyed Gerry Cooney in a defence...
Then he lost to Tyson.

[DrDuke]

My ex amateur coach was talking to me once about the 76 Olympics, saying that despite the eastern bloc fighters being so technically correct, the Spinks brothers were beasts, proper strong and like wild animals.

Mike Spinks is remembered for one fight and one fight only: the Mike Tyson fight. The man won Olympic gold, the WBA light-heavyweight title, of which made 10 defences, unified the belts by defeating Dwight Braxton, moved up to heavyweight and twice beat Larry Holmes, destroyed Gerry Cooney in a defence...
Then he lost to Tyson.

I remember Michael Spinks as the best LHW ever.

[stujones]

My ex amateur coach was talking to me once about the 76 Olympics, saying that despite the eastern bloc fighters being so technically correct, the Spinks brothers were beasts, proper strong and like wild animals.

Mike Spinks is remembered for one fight and one fight only: the Mike Tyson fight. The man won Olympic gold, the WBA light-heavyweight title, of which made 10 defences, unified the belts by defeating Dwight Braxton, moved up to heavyweight and twice beat Larry Holmes, destroyed Gerry Cooney in a defence...
Then he lost to Tyson.

I remember Michael Spinks as the best LHW ever.

Yeah, he did a great job against Gerry Cooney also (Cooney I think is now underated as a fighter - mainly cos of his skin colour).

Really Really good fighter was Mike and a criminally forgotton boxer was Leon's son, Cory.

[dookus]

My ex amateur coach was talking to me once about the 76 Olympics, saying that despite the eastern bloc fighters being so technically correct, the Spinks brothers were beasts, proper strong and like wild animals.

Mike Spinks is remembered for one fight and one fight only: the Mike Tyson fight. The man won Olympic gold, the WBA light-heavyweight title, of which made 10 defences, unified the belts by defeating Dwight Braxton, moved up to heavyweight and twice beat Larry Holmes, destroyed Gerry Cooney in a defence...
Then he lost to Tyson.

I remember Michael Spinks as the best LHW ever.

Ditto. It's a tragedy his HW record has almost obliterated the collective memory of what an extraordinary LHW he was before that.

[Tuan_Jim]

Michael's beating of Holmes and Cooney are testament to his unreal talent. It's shameful how overlooked he is.

[Coco]

And a guy who regularly did 12st 6

[SticknMove]

Spinks should be best remembered as one of the American dream team in the 1976 Olympics. Leon won light-heavyweight gold, stopping Cuba's Sixto Soria in three rounds, and his brother Michael won middleweight gold. Sugar Ray Leonard, Howard Davis and Leo Randolph also won gold.

Remember me crying as Leon outworked the Greatest whilst my dad laughed that the braggard got beat.

RIP Leon

[bennie]

Spinks should be best remembered as one of the American dream team in the 1976 Olympics. Leon won light-heavyweight gold, stopping Cuba's Sixto Soria in three rounds, and his brother Michael won middleweight gold. Sugar Ray Leonard, Howard Davis and Leo Randolph also won gold.

Remember me crying as Leon outworked the Greatest whilst my dad laughed that the braggard got beat.

RIP Leon

I was reading the Daily Express yesterday and journalist Chris McKenna makes an excellent point when he wrote that Spinks is the only man who genuinely dethroned Ali.

[bennie]

Michael's beating of Holmes and Cooney are testament to his unreal talent. It's shameful how overlooked he is.

One of my favourite Mike Spinks fights is his 10-round stoppage of the Peruvian Oscar Rivadeneyra in Vancouver in 1983. Mike had unified the world light-heavyweight title in his previous fight with a 15-round decision over Dwight Braxton. He then had to face the unknown Rivadeneyra because the challenger was ranked No. 1 by the WBA. In the past, WBA top-ranked challengers (usually Koreans or Panamanians) had turned out to be boxing embarrassments and one could forgive Spinks for not training too hard, particularly after seeing off the rugged Braxton. Not on your life. Mike was in magnificent shape and he outlasted Rivadeneyra, who turned out to be one helluva fighter. Spinks showed that he was the ultimate pro.

[Fray Bentos]

Michael's beating of Holmes and Cooney are testament to his unreal talent. It's shameful how overlooked he is.

One of my favourite Mike Spinks fights is his 10-round stoppage of the Peruvian Oscar Rivadeneyra in Vancouver in 1983. Mike had unified the world light-heavyweight title in his previous fight with a 15-round decision over Dwight Braxton. He then had to face the unknown Rivadeneyra because the challenger was ranked No. 1 by the WBA. In the past, WBA top-ranked challengers (usually Koreans or Panamanians) had turned out to be boxing embarrassments and one could forgive Spinks for not training too hard, particularly after seeing off the rugged Braxton. Not on your life. Mike was in magnificent shape and he outlasted Rivadeneyra, who turned out to be one helluva fighter. Spinks showed that he was the ultimate pro.

Rivadeneyra was the half-brother of 1960's heavyweight tough guy Roberto Davila who fought a few times in the UK (and stopped Brian London...)

1983 was a great year for Peruvian boxing, Orlando Romero got a shot at Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini and gave him a torrid time too before succumbing in the ninth.

[bennie]

Michael's beating of Holmes and Cooney are testament to his unreal talent. It's shameful how overlooked he is.

One of my favourite Mike Spinks fights is his 10-round stoppage of the Peruvian Oscar Rivadeneyra in Vancouver in 1983. Mike had unified the world light-heavyweight title in his previous fight with a 15-round decision over Dwight Braxton. He then had to face the unknown Rivadeneyra because the challenger was ranked No. 1 by the WBA. In the past, WBA top-ranked challengers (usually Koreans or Panamanians) had turned out to be boxing embarrassments and one could forgive Spinks for not training too hard, particularly after seeing off the rugged Braxton. Not on your life. Mike was in magnificent shape and he outlasted Rivadeneyra, who turned out to be one helluva fighter. Spinks showed that he was the ultimate pro.

Rivadeneyra was the half-brother of 1960's heavyweight tough guy Roberto Davila who fought a few times in the UK (and stopped Brian London...)

1983 was a great year for Peruvian boxing, Orlando Romero got a shot at Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini and gave him a torrid time too before succumbing in the ninth.

Great knowledge, mate. Davila was an iron man and I had no idea he was Oscar's half-brother. Yes, Romero gave it a great go against Mancini at the Garden and the fight was desperately close on the cards when Mancini pulled out a brutal left hook to flatten the challenger in the ninth round. Mancini's conditioning made him one of the last proper 15-round fighters.