Why is Michael Spinks considered a big puncher?

Controversial · Post by **Controversial** » 23 Jul 2007, 07:57

Personally I can't see why Michael Spinks' power is rated so highly, am I missing something here? Yes he could dig but was he really that big a hitter?

He had a 27-0 (19 ko) record at that weight, not a particulaly high KO percentage (around 70%). The best fighters he fought tended to take him the distance and many of the stoppages he had were middle to late round ones. Only 8 of his 19 kos at that weight came in 4 rounds or under. Several of his title defences were also against pretty average competetion.

Can someone tell me why his power is rated so highly, enough for some to call him the biggest light-heavyweight puncher ever.

Yes I know his right hand 'Spinks Jinx' was a world class punch but enough to be rated so highly?

Thoughts please.

Ambling Alp · Post by **Ambling Alp** » 23 Jul 2007, 08:32

Spinks wasn't as brutal of a puncher as say Bob Foster, but he hit hard. He stopped 12 of his last 15 opponents at lightheavyweight.
It's doubtful that any lightheavyweight could have stopped two of the three (Mustapha Muhammad and Qawi). He probably should have stopped Eddie Davis.
Still considering the high quality of the division at the time, that's pretty good.

dempseyfire · Post by **dempseyfire** » 23 Jul 2007, 09:43

KO percentages really don't mean anything, boxing can't be "statted down" like baseball. Look at Spinks' competition in his relatively brief career. No-one was stopping Qawi and Eddie Mustafa at that point in their careers (although Spinks was the first man to put Qawi into a shell with the jinx, something Holyfield couldn't do)

markl · Post by **markl** » 23 Jul 2007, 12:30

Never heard anyone call him that. He didn't hit as hard as Foster or Marvin Johnson

He was certainly a big punching Light Heavyweight. His right hand would gain respect from anyone. Threw nice uppercuts with both hands as well.

As already stated. He was facing a high level of competition from early on in his career.

BTW.......70% is a puncher's ko% anyway.

Elton John · Post by **Elton John** » 23 Jul 2007, 15:01

I felt Mike was a great hitter. Watch him in the Lopez fight (1980)

I Feel Fine · Post by **I Feel Fine** » 23 Jul 2007, 18:57

He could hurt guys like Qawi and Mustafa Muhammad who had good chins. He could move up to Heavyweight and knock out Cooney with a lot of big shots. But he's not considered a huge puncher, I don't think, just a very good puncher. I'm not sure if he's a bigger puncher than Holyfield, for example.

torodecayey · Post by **torodecayey** » 23 Jul 2007, 20:14

i thought he was a terrific puncher. he knocked out some guys cold with 1 punch ! like marvin johnson
he had yaqui lopez out of it and
he floored eddie mustafa muhammed

HomicideHenry · Post by **HomicideHenry** » 24 Jul 2007, 22:06

Spinks power as a HW I think was over-rated immensely, more so than his power at LHW. He was a powerful hitting man, but wasn't quite in the same class as Foster and Fitzsimmons. His level of hitting power was possibly as great as the LHW contender "Irish" Bob Murphy, who had stopped Jake LaMotta (though he was passed his best), among others.

Spinks is, like Decagon said, one of the few men whose kayo percentage was misleading. I wouldn't quite compare him to Marciano, as 5 of Rocky's 6 career decision wins came from before he was champion. Spinks on the other hand knocked out an unranked Gerry Cooney who was a crack head at the time and an unknown Swedish fighter named Steffan Tangstad.

He didn't have the power to hurt Larry Holmes, and he sure as hell wouldn't have been able to hurt men like Tony Tucker, who was Spinks mandatory challenger (whom he ducked). Spinks' power, in my mind, came not so much from actual physical prowess but from speed and an acute sense of timing, much like Billy Conn and much like Jimmy Wilde.

The twenty or so pounds he gained to fight Holmes, in my mind, made very little difference in his punching power---much like it didn't for Roy Jones, when he fought John Ruiz. Outside of Ruiz having a bloody nose, he wasn't hurt or ever appeared in any sort of danger.

Spinks did have power at LHW, but it wasn't anything on the level of ATG punching prowess, and the only comparison I can make between him and Foster is that, like Foster, his power never really carried over into HW.

HomicideHenry · Post by **HomicideHenry** » 24 Jul 2007, 22:21

The Cooney KO is usually held up as being this great victory for Spinks cus it was against a 'name' opponent who was bigger and harder hitting than Spinks. And since Spinks knocked him out, it gives alot of die hard fans to believe that Spinks still had the 'jinx' when he was a HW; though they dont seem to fully acknowledge that this wasnt the same Cooney that Holmes fought.

markl · Post by **markl** » 25 Jul 2007, 11:55

It was a good win for him and an exciting ko. But he landed like 80 power punches in the 5th rd.

It was the combinations and activity of it that was impressive. Not anything to do with power.

Ezzard · Post by **Ezzard** » 25 Jul 2007, 12:00

HomicideHenry wrote:
He didn't have the power to hurt Larry Holmes, and he sure as hell wouldn't have been able to hurt men like Tony Tucker, who was Spinks mandatory challenger (whom he ducked).

Spinks knew he would lose to the first young HW with a decent punch that he met. He therefore held out for Tyson. If he was going to lose it might as well be for the most money.

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 03 Aug 2007, 16:41

Spinks was a great puncher---with his elbows.

That's how he "knocked out" Marvin Johnson.

In the Vonzell Johnson-Michael Spinks fight,

Vonzell Johnson's cornerman Angelo Dundee said to Johnson in the corner between rounds--on national television--

"If he throws another elbow at you, kick him."

markl · Post by **markl** » 06 Aug 2007, 13:07

granberry wrote:Spinks was a great puncher---with his elbows.

That's how he "knocked out" Marvin Johnson.

In the Vonzell Johnson-Michael Spinks fight,

Vonzell Johnson's cornerman Angelo Dundee said to Johnson in the corner between rounds--on national television--

"If he throws another elbow at you, kick him."

He hit Johnson with an uppercut. Not even possible for it to be an elbow. I see your delusions aren't soley with Ali.

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 06 Aug 2007, 15:05

markl wrote:
granberry wrote:Spinks was a great puncher---with his elbows.

That's how he "knocked out" Marvin Johnson.

In the Vonzell Johnson-Michael Spinks fight,

Vonzell Johnson's cornerman Angelo Dundee said to Johnson in the corner between rounds--on national television--

"If he throws another elbow at you, kick him."
He hit Johnson with an uppercut. Not even possible for it to be an elbow. I see your delusions aren't soley with Ali.

Mark, like others who post on sites like this, is not competent when it comes to the actual fundamentals of boxing.

Mark just wrote "He hit Johnson with an uppercut. Not even possible for it to be an elbow."

Mark just showed he is clueless, yet compelled to write on a topic he is clueless on.

Michael Spinks' sparring partners showed me how he practiced in his sparring

throwing an uppercut and snapping his elbow upward to end the "punch"

throwing a left hook and snapping his elbow against the same spot to end the "punch".

In the Spinks-Vonzell Johnson fight,

Angelo Dundee said on national TV between rounds to his fighter Vonzell Johnson about Spinks,

"If he throws another elbow at you, kick him."

Too bad "authority" Mark wasn't there to explain to Dundee that he was wrong and was impossible for Spinks to throw an elbow.

LOL

Spinks "knocked out" Marvin Johnson with an elbow to the chin.

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 06 Aug 2007, 15:16

Decagon wrote:Did anyone read that last post?

An example of decagon's trolling.

markl · Post by **markl** » 06 Aug 2007, 18:33

I deal with trolls on a daily basis and he is possibly the worst I have ever encountered. I would ban the POS. He never brings anything to any thread.

But novel length garbage, that isn't even close to being right.

What Mark showed is he watched the fight that Grandblaherry was incorrectly spewing off about.

You couldn't possibly connect with an elbow while throwing an uppercut.

You should really quit the internet. You're too stupid for it.

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 06 Aug 2007, 20:02

markl wrote:I deal with trolls on a daily basis and he is possibly the worst I have ever encountered. I would ban the POS. He never brings anything to any thread.

But novel length garbage, that isn't even close to being right.

What Mark showed is he watched the fight that Grandblaherry was incorrectly spewing off about.

You couldn't possibly connect with an elbow while throwing an uppercut.

POS Mark repeats that he is totally incompetent when it comes to boxing.

I can teach a girl to do that.

Throw an uppercut that misses in front of your opponent's face and when your fist is as high as the target whip your elbow straight up.

It will come up right under and into his chin from below.

POS Mark is Mr. Incompetent when it comes to the topic.

And EAGER to display his stupidity

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 06 Aug 2007, 20:05

Decagon wrote:Seriously, do you think people view you as a joke, or some kind of boxing expert?

decagon,

you are a fake.

You are a very sad joke.

You know nothing about the fundamentals of boxing--and display it with each post you make.

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 06 Aug 2007, 21:44

Decagon wrote:I'm not the one who said that "everyone on the East Coast" knew that Ali-Liston II was a fix. If so, why weren't the odds heavily skewed in Ali's favor?

Everyone in the mob world heard about that during the last days before that "fight."

Collins2000 · Post by **Collins2000** » 07 Aug 2007, 00:09

Decagon wrote:Seriously, do you think people view you as a joke, or some kind of boxing expert?

I think, like you, he is generally considered to be some sort of troll.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 07 Aug 2007, 13:49

Can anyone youtube the relivent parts of the Spinks-Vonzell Johnson fight?

markl · Post by **markl** » 07 Aug 2007, 13:58

KOJOE90 wrote:Can anyone youtube the relivent parts of the Spinks-Vonzell Johnson fight?

Marvin Johnson was the one knocked out by an uppercut elbow.......lol.

This guy really is pathetic. The motion and technique of an uppercut make an elbow impossible.

Not to mention it was a clean shot right to the chin.

granberry · Post by **granberry** » 15 Aug 2007, 00:47

Collins2000 wrote:
Decagon wrote:Seriously, do you think people view you as a joke, or some kind of boxing expert?
I think, like you, he is generally considered to be some sort of troll.

Collins is Buzz' stooge.

What a pathetic existence.

Collins2000 · Post by **Collins2000** » 15 Aug 2007, 01:13

Crankberry,

If a southpaw threw a left uppercut that missed, would he punch himself on top of his head?