I may write about the other later in the week, but former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks passing at the age of 67 makes me remember how fame can be fleeting and even though the boxing world never forgot Leon Spinks, many may have forgotten that Leon Spinks was, for a short time, a person that everyone in the United States knew by face and fell just as quickly.
Almost universally loved in the boxing community, Leon Spinks and his brother Michael each came to the forefront from the 1976 Montreal Olympics as part of a boxing team that won five gold medals, a silver, and a bronze.
Five members would eventually win world championships (Both Spinks brothers, Ray Leonard, Leo Randolph) and a sixth (Howard Davis) would fight for the championship and while there were better boxers for their career than Leon Spinks, I don't think even Ray Leonard had the type of fame that Leon Spinks held for six months in 1978.
Many of the Olympians would fight their early career fights on network television and the Spinks brothers fought often on CBS.
After Spinks battled to a draw with veteran Scott LeDoux in October 1977 in his sixth pro fight, rumors of a Spinks challenge of Muhammad Ali began to surface.
Muhammad Ali, for all of his tremendous challengers through his reigns, would also fight his share of "showcase" fights with these often on network television against the likes of Jean-Pierre Coopman, Richard Dunn, Chuck Wepner, Alfredo Evangelista, etc.
Note to today's fighters- No one complains about showcase fights when the champion fights at least three or four times a year.
Spinks with his name and Olympic background seemed to fit the bill for an Ali fight- he was well-known, but inexperienced and didn't figure to have the power to hurt Ali.
The fight was easy to make, except Spinks wasn't rated by the WBA or WBC to qualify for a title shot.
Then as now, the sanctioning bodies are known for getting things done when so motivated, so Spinks was quickly matched with Italian heavyweight Alfio Righetti, who was ranked only because he was the European champion.
Spinks won a unanimous decision over Righetti, found himself in the ratings, and suddenly eligible to fight for the world championship with a record of 6-0-1.
The fight was televised on CBS and the co-trainers for Spinks ( former middleweight contender George Benton and Sam Solomon) devised a fight plan that would see Spinks pound on the arms of Ali and by the later round make it difficult for Ali to use his jab.
Spinks swarmed Ali, didn't allow the champion to extend his arms to keep Spinks at range, and when the fight hit the championship rounds (then 11-15), Ali didn't have the strength to do any significant damage.
The only real surprise was that someone thought Ali won as Spinks won a split decision and the WBA and WBC titles with it.
Sanctioning bodies giveth and they taketh away as the WBC insisted Spinks fight Ken Norton rather than the more lucrative rematch with Ali and Spinks was stripped of the WBC title.
The six months that Spinks was champion was filled with partying, car escapades, and times that his team didn't even know where he was- all of which was quite scandalous for 1978 and saw Spinks as a regular topic for comedians and talk show hosts.
An unprepared Spinks and more importantly, a prepared Ali fought their rematch on ABC in September with Ali winning a clear unanimous decision.
It would not get any better for Spinks, who was knocked out in one round by Gerrie Coetzee in the first round of the tournament to crown the WBA champion after Ali vacated the title after defeating Spinks.
Spinks did stop Bernardo Mercado in the ninth round on the Ali-Larry Holmes undercard and since Mercado was the WBC's top contender at that time, Spinks was given a title shot at Holmes in 1981 in Detroit.
Many people thought Spinks had an excellent chance of dethroning Holmes but was taken out in three rounds on ABC.
Spinks was a small heavyweight and the cruiserweight division had recently been created, so Spinks was thought to have had the ability to do well in the division but was stopped after six rounds by Carlos DeLeon (DeLeon would hold the cruiserweight crown three times) and after a five-fight winning streak against weak competition, Spinks would receive one final title shot against Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the WBA cruiserweight title.
Spinks was overpowered by the "Camden Buzzsaw", who was motivated by his decision loss to brother Michael three years before and took a pounding that resulted in Spinks never again fighting a top fighter again.
Instead, Spinks hit the circuit of small towns and club fights, losing as often as he won and would also hit the world of pro wrestling as Spinks lost to Antonio Inoki in Japan and briefly held the Frontier Martial-Arts title (a pro-wrestling group) in Japan among other efforts that were more carnival than sport.
Leon Spinks was missing his two front teeth and kids for years after his prime was often called "Leon" by even non-boxing fans as his prominent gap-tooth look was so memorable during those six months in 1978 when he ruled the world...
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