Ringside Report Looks Back at Former Light Heavyweight & Heavyweight Champion Michael Spinks

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By Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci

One of the most noble aspects in the sport of boxing is the reverence reserved for retired fighters who have hung up the leather warfare and moved on to the next phase of their lives. Those that squandered their talent or didn’t follow protocols or worldly advice even get a pass sooner or later as bitter memories fade and fans admirably remember the best of times. Others have grown larger by the decade to mythical proportions as stories get handed down from generation to generation. There are times the ledgers and film support the verbal documentation as our legends fade into history and yet there have been some bewildering turnabouts where our imaginations ran amok turning our heroes into godlike beings who walked this earth over canvass battle grounds.

You recall that electric frenzy that takes over boxing talk where people are naive enough to suggest anomalies like a certain 188-pound heavyweight champion could compete on any level against the bigger, faster and stronger behemoths that followed him across the decades while eclipsing him in size but not stature. This generosity of fan appreciation is a heart-warming tribute to our legends who risked their very lives to entertain us.

With universally accepted axioms as dust collects on trophy cases the losses become blurred and obscured by the gut wrenching victories that defied logic and made our spirits soar. Yet once in a lifetime the logic gets irreversibly twisted and an iconic legend gets remembered and chastised for a single bump in the road rather than a life worth living with a career that erected a bridge between adolescent dreams to Hall of Fame legacy. Enter Michael Spinks; light heavyweight legend of magnificent skills with a ledger of lingering rhapsodies of title defenses, who sadly is often dismissed by a dismal performance against “Iron” Mike Tyson on arguably his finest night when Spinks was planning his retirement; win, lose or draw.

Humbling and impoverished upbringing is most often “the” one constant that drives our tough adolescent fighters off the streets and into the gyms for creative outlets harnessing their youth and channeling their passionate dreams by remodeling the bad hand they were dealt. Here, with a bit of luck under the watchful eye and guidance of a mentor those young men build themselves into something extraordinary; a champion.

Michael was blessed with both height and reach for a young amateur but appeared lanky at middleweight standing 6’ 2 ½” with a 76” wingspan. Raised in St. Louis Missouri there were plenty of street fights to ignite the necessary ambers to make boxing a vocation. The real estate labeled “the projects and hood” were safely navigated because Michael’s big brother and future heavyweight champion Leon was one hell of a bodyguard especially when their Mom took interest in Michael’s safety. The tempered steel guardian came at a costly price but would pay off handsomely in dividends. Leon with goals of his own trained like a bat out of hell and made sure to spar his beloved brother daily allowing angst to transmogrify into a united sibling rivalry where they would push each other to the brink in preparation for whatever hammer fisted gunslingers may lay in wait ahead.

The grueling work ethic took the younger Spinks to a 93-7 amateur career that was capped off with a Gold medal in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. From there amid all the glory of what is widely considered the greatest Olympic squad America ever produced Michael humbly found himself short sided with no contract offers where he took a backseat to Leon’s gold medal which he instantly cashed in with his windmill aggressive style and toothless grin. ABC Sports jumped on the bandwagon and showcased Leon on Saturday afternoon bouts while Michael was forced to seek factory work while he cared for his mother. Before 1977 was over flamboyant young promoter Butch Lewis took interest and convinced Michael to turn pro catching him up to Leon’s seven bouts before years end. The venerable world-renowned trainer Eddie Futch was brought in to guide Michaels career ensuring no shortcuts were taken while building the architectural foundation of a word champion.

The following year Michael would take a back seat to big brother just one last time as “Neon” Leon the party animal with relentless energy was brought in as a sacrificial lamb in an unearned title shot against none other than Muhammad Ali. With an unappetizing record of 6-0-1, 5 KO’s Leon would make front page of every newspaper in the country winning a SD and pulling off one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. The lone judge who scored it Ali’s way must have held a sentimental pencil that night. Six months later he would lose the title by unanimous decision in the rematch where a refocused Ali exploited the reckless style of Spinks and was better suited to play matador. Leon’s comeback bout ten months later would be a 2-minute execution at the hand’s of Gerrie Coetzee effectively ending the once promising career of Leon turning him into a steppingstone and catapulting the South African into mandatory contender status.

Michael’s career on the other hand slowed to a crawl with just 11 pro fights on his resume while languishing in anonymity but that was all about to change with a unanimous decision over contender Murray Sutherland. With the patron saint of patience Eddie Futch guiding his corner the win not only captured the attention of the fans but the media as well as its propelled Spinks on the train tracks to contender status. He would use the momentum wisely stopping five contenders in a row including war horse Yaqui Lopez in 7 rounds and former champion Marvin Johnson in 4. In both fights he allowed his opponent to enter pocket aggressively while keeping his punches short and adjusting his foe’s timing before setting traps knowing when to get better extension on his power shots. The Johnson KO was a picturesque short left uppercut turned over on contact resulting in a forgone conclusion ten count.

The win put Michael on the world stage challenging the great boxing talents of Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in July of 1981 at the Imperial Palace, Las Vegas for Muhammad’s WBA title. Spinks would control the bout over the crafty champion and drop him in the 12th round going on to win a unanimous decision. Finally, Spinks had arrived and now without distractions prepared to turn his workman like endeavors into a Hall of Fame career. All associations with the meteoric rise and fall of brother Leon was now in rear view mirror as he was about to become accountable in ruling a truly worthy and talented division. The “Jinx” moniker on his robe now became a label for the power in his right hand much the way Rocky Marciano dubbed his right haymaker the “Suzie Q.”

Michael would go on to defend the title 10 times including a unification with a fistic firestorm named Dwight Muhammad Qawi which he controlled rather handily winning a unanimous decision. His first five previous challengers failed to hear the final bell which included Vonzel Johnson, Mustafa Wassaja, Murray Sutherland, Jerry Celestine and Johnny Davis.

The second half of his esteemed run fans witnessed Michael turn back the challenges of Oscar Rivadeneyra, Eddie Davis, David Sears and Jim MacDonald with Davis being the only contender to hear the score cards read. Regrettably fans were denied the privilege of witnessing Spinks duel against the best rival of his generation against Matthew Saad Muhammad who gallantly lost his WBC title to Qawi just five months after Spinks became champion. The following year Qawi gave Saad a rematch stopping him a second time and effectively ended his title aspirations forever. With Saad having made 8 successful defenses of his own including stoppages over John Conteh, Lottie Mwale and Jerry Martin the light heavyweight division went from red hot to a barren wasteland forcing Spinks to rise above the boredom and challenge himself against the big boys.

First up in tall order was none other than all time great Larry Holmes who was looking to make his 21st defense of his heavyweight crown with aspirations of breaking Rocky Marciano’s iconic unblemished ledger of 48-0. Holmes should have been impressed with his own number of title defenses and not obsessed with Rock’s record and called it a day. Thinking Mike would cave like the great Bob Foster did went he moved north to challenge Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier his corner assumed he bought a pass that automatically sent him to the head of the line in the pantheon of greats.

What Larry forgot was his last bout against Carl the “Truth” Williams left the boxing world with an uneasy stomach as many who scored event gave the challenger 9 rounds. With Spinks only option to stick and move and pick his battles as he hobbled clockwise around Holmes like a newborn colt flicking jabs and preventing the champion from pulling the trigger on his right hand. Spinks made history through survival and attrition with a unanimous decision victory. Holmes fans were mad that his era had effectively ended as well as the Marciano fraction overjoyed his benchmark not being eclipsed.

A bitterly disappointed Holmes proverbially shot himself in the foot at post fight press conference making resentful character assassinations with the realization he blew his opportunity at immortality.

The rematch saw a determined Holmes more focused and battle ready to take back his crown. The media scored Larry the winner by a 9 round margin but only the judges scorecards mattered. Spinks was awarded his first title defense on popularity with a split decision as the changing of the guard was now complete.

Next up one Steffen Tangstad who was pummeled over four rounds leaving even the Spinks camp wondering where the promoter dug him up.

Onward, the next challenger would be gentleman Gerry Cooney who was working off a year of rust. The 1980’s saw Cooney fight just 6 rounds before his historic challenge of Holmes. Since then leading up to his 1987 challenge of Michael, Gerry logged in only another 7 and fought accordingly.

He was always one step and reaction behind Spink’s movement and assault with the bout mercifully stopped in five one sided rounds. Cooney “was” a terrific fighter who was mismanaged and the rest is history. Anyone paying attention to Michael’s newly invented career at heavyweight had to know that his tenure there was part talent, part luck with defective opponents wisely chosen for Spinks to exploit.

Somehow Butch Lewis convinced Michael to take on “Iron” Mike Tyson in a unification match for his retirement pension. On the promotional tour Spinks “talked the talk” igniting fans across the globe into believing he had the skills to defuse the living timebomb. Against a peaking Tyson Michael lasted only a minute and a half seemingly left for dead after being thrown under the bus. Spinks quietly retired making no excuses with his legacy intact where Ring Magazine has him as the number three light heavyweight champion of all time behind only immortals Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore. Michael ruled over a talented era and dominated it with conviction. That is why he was elected into the Hall of Fame. Fans with short memories need to let the Tyson fight go and simply give the man his props for entering the belly of the beast against a supernatural force that night.

Add the intangibles of awkward style and Spink’s penchant for being a junkyard dog inside the pocket when he needed to be with knockout power in either hand no one can deny he could have fought in any era against any 175-pound specimen you care to mention. Retiring with a 31-1, 21 KO’s record, Michael job well done brother you are forgiven.

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