Ringside Report Remembers the Beloved Former Heavyweight Champion “Neon” Leon Spinks (1953-2021)

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By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

When I saw the weigh in, for the rematch between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz, JR. something tugged at my memory. It was not that I knew Ruiz, JR. so well that he had repeated an error of his past or that Joshua had shown something which reminded me about something. It was the emerging story that chimed.

An unfancied fighter who went in the ring with a man few thought could be beaten. Then the unfancied fighter wins. Following the win, there comes rumors of a lack of training, a lifestyle that was not the right style to get ready for a defense, even that of a playground fight and I remembered.

“Neon” Leon Spinks, 26-17-3 14 KO’s.

Once again, the boxing world has lost a ring legend and a man who has a story worth the telling but this time, with a warning worth the heeding. His death, due to Cancer which was diagnosed in 2019, was tragic though we would have found any cause of death believable given that he had brain shrinkage, put down to his boxing past and issues with addiction, put down to his personality as part of the tale of a man who fought and conquered almost all apart from himself.

The facts of his career are that he was an Olympic Champion, a world champion – for the WBC and WBA – and a fighter who was defined by that world championship win and subsequent loss in the rematch.

You cannot, however, downplay the achievement of taking the heavyweight championship away from none other than the legendary, Muhammad Ali.

Ali faced him as the man who everyone adored and he was expected to just brush through this kid who was, despite his Olympic and amateur pedigree, only in his eighth fight. The year was 1978 and nobody was giving Spinks a chance. Ali was in supposed to be in shape and there could be no excuses given for what was a shock that went round the world.

At the Hilton in Las Vegas on the 15th of February, Ali was not prepared for his opponent. He, for once, had believed his own hype and considered this an easy defense. He had handpicked Spinks and was working his way towards a possible fourth fight with Ken Norton. The split decision loss was seismic. A former US Marine, Spinks went in against Ali the first time with no expectation and fought the right fight. Ali was shocked, stunned and surprised and by the end of the 15th round nobody else was quite sure what to make of it all.

Spinks was the heavyweight champion of the world. What he did not see, as was reported thereafter was that he “left Las Vegas surrounded by smiling thieves.” It was not the first time his vision was impaired. Spinks had managed to win a world title in the quickest time ever and was and still is, the only man to take a world title from Ali in the ring.

Following the fight, he was told by the WBC he was to take on his mandatory opponent in Ken Norton, but a rematch with Ali was in the mix; he went for Ali. The WBC stripped him, and he had to wait until 1981 when he faced Larry Holmes for that belt to try and get it back. He failed in his attempt against Holmes when he was stopped in the third round.
The world awaited with bated breath, the rematch.

It came in New Orleans, alter the same year as the original fight, in September and by then Spinks had managed to recruit Mr. T as his personal bodyguard, a reputation that was awesome for every wrong reason and the hope rather than the expectation of his team that he might just sneak a win against an aging Ali. He summed up his approach later as follows, “I had no control of myself out of the ring. All I cared about was going on to the next party. Who was I going to get high with? My life was cocaine, weed, cars and women. And I enjoyed it.”

In comparison, Ali prepared like a demon, a man possessed. He had lost his crown and he wanted to have it back. That the WBC belt had been lost in the mix did not help his preparations and when he arrived in New Orleans, he found solace in peace in a private residence outside of town and away from the bright lights.

Spinks went for the bright lights. He became the poster boy for how not to defend titles. There are legendary stories of him being seen all over the country with women on his arm who were not the same distinctive height and shape as his wife. There were stories of how he was partying hard and taking substances which were banned then and are banned now.

On the day of their rematch, he was allegedly pulled from a party hotel an hour before the fight and had to be sobered up to take the ring walk.

Once in the ring, Ali could not stop him. Spinks may have been filed with enough substance to halt a herd of elephants, but he was imperious. By the end, the WBA belt was back with Ali but the man he had fought had shown a relentless spirit that was surely never going to leave him.

Ali, the first ever three-time World heavyweight champion then retired. For the first time.

The fight with Holmes for the WBC title, on the 6th of December 1981 in Detroit was followed five years later by a cruiserweight title fight against Dwight Muhammad Qawi which he lost in the 6th round by stoppage. His pedigree was set by having a brother, Michael, who also won an Olympic Gold – at middleweight – and a professional world title at heavyweight. Until the Klitschko’s, the Spinks were out heavyweight brotherhood.

Spinks was never far from ill health and suffering and for a time was in a homeless shelter. His diagnosis of advanced stage prostate cancer was a clear tragedy to add to these issues and challenges. But he was a fighter. As his management company said when they announced his death, “His final fight was fought with the same skill, grace and grit that had carried him through so many lifetime challenges.”

Amen to that!

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