Posted on 02/06/2021 7:42:47 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Leon Spinks – who won Olympic gold and then shocked the boxing world by beating Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight title in only his eighth pro fight – has died. He was 67.
Spinks, who lived his later years in Las Vegas, died on Friday night, according to a release from a public relations firm. He had contracted prostate and other cancers. His wife, Brenda Glur Spinks, and a few close friends and other family members were by his side when he died.
A much-loved heavyweight with a drinking problem, Spinks beat Ali by decision in a 12-round fight in 1978 to win the title. He was unranked at the time and picked as an opponent because Ali was looking for an easy fight.
He got anything but that, with an unorthodox Spinks swarming over Ali throughout the fight on his way to a stunning win by split decision. The two met seven months later in New Orleans, with Ali taking the decision before a record indoor boxing crowd of 72,000 and a national television audience estimated at 90 million people.
Speaking to the Observer in 2006, Spinks said he thought he won that second fight as well. “But they wanted Ali [to win],” he said. “It’s politics. It ain’t what you know but who you know.”
The promoter Bob Arum said on Saturday: “It was one of the most unbelievable things when Ali agreed to fight him because you look at the fights he had up to then and he was not only not a top contender but shouldn’t have been a contender at all. He was just an opponent but somehow he found a way to win that fight.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
I remember those 76 Olympics like it was yesterday. Sugar Ray Leonard, Big John Tate, Leon and Michael Spinks. Remember how heartbroken I was when Teofilio Stevenson knocked Tate out. Tate never saw what hit him.
Cancer is not a disease so no one contracts it. Cancer is an abnormality of one’s own cells that grows uncontrollably.
Freakin hilarious. And original. Now, back to the passing of Leon Spinks.
RIP, Marine.
“Sugar Ray Leonard, Big John Tate, Leon and Michael Spinks.”
That was the US Boxing team? Holy crap.
I heard him interviewed once.....had NO idea what he was saying....pretty funny.
.
“The two met seven months later in New Orleans, with Ali taking the decision before a record indoor boxing crowd of 72,000 and a national television audience estimated at 90 million people.”
I listened to that fight on the radio. The announcer said the crowd was chanting “A-li. A-li “
I just finished watching A Night in Miami, only 5 minutes ago.
Any man, if he lives long enough, will contract prostate cancer.
Or so I’ve been told
Incorrect. I’ve been a RN for 27 years. I’ve seen plenty of guys >100 years old that have had normal prostates. But, I’ve also seen plenty of them that didn’t. I have heard the number of 60% eventuality of getting prostate cancer. Next time I see one of the urologists come by my floor, I’ll ask.
I remember that like it was yesterday, it was unbelievable just like the Tyson-Buster Douglas fight, you couldn’t believe he lost.
Two of the best members of the team are pretty much forgotten. Howard Davis won the gold medal at lightweight and was named the outstanding boxer of the Olympics. As a pro, he fought a couple of times for the world title but never won a title. Leo Randolph won the gold medal at the flyweight division and later won the super bantamweight title as a pro. He has the distinctions of retiring at the young age ever for a world title holder and of having the shortest career ever for a world title holder at 2 years and 50 days. (Those last two facts I didn't know until I saw them on Wikipedia.)
RIP, Leon Spinks.
I was just remembering that! All of Leon's interviews went like this:
Interviewer: "Tell us champ, what was your strategy during this fight?
Spinks: "Mfff mf sff sfoshifif, sfish sfsh n mffs fsff!"
Interviewer: "Thank you, Leon. What Leon just said, ladies and gentlemen was..."
By the way, Leon, rest in peace and thanks for the great memories. It was a great era in boxing and you were a big part of it.
I think Howard Davis Jr won gold with that group also?
Ditto!
I had a friend that won a contest selling newspapers and got go to those Olympics. He saw these fights you speak of. He was a 16 year old kid at the time.
Leon worked at the temp service I was at in 1994. The mink coat and cocaine crowd had eaten him alive from inside to out. He had a very tough and religious wife at the time. he was a gentleman in his dealings with us. Rest in Peace, Champ.
I always thought that it was a setup deal.
My thought was it was for the glory of Ali.
The money was a factor too
Ali picked him because he knew he could beat him in a rematch.
Ali loses to him and then sits beside him after the fight to do the fight recap.
Ali wins the next fight, the only heavyweight to win the title three times, hurrah, Ali is the greatest boxer ever
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