Leon Spinks: The Man Who Defeated Muhammad Ali for the Heavyweight Championship of the World Loses His Battle to Cancer at Age 67 – Boxing News

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By Geoffrey Huchel

Former Heavyweight Champion of the World Leon Spinks died February 5, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada, following a 5 year battle with cancer. He was 67.

Leon Spinks was an American professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1995. During that time, he compiled a professional record of 26-17-3, 14 KO’s.

Prior to his professional boxing career Spinks competed in the mid-1970s and won three consecutive awards, the first being the Bronze at the 1974 World Championships, followed by Silver at the 1975 Pan American Games and Gold at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He debuted professionally on January 15, 1977 in Las Vegas, Nevada, beating his competitor, Bob Smith by a knockout in five rounds. Throughout his career, Spinks had his fair share of high points and low points, however, on February 15,1978, Spinks made history when he defeated Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title, only for Ali to regain his title during a rematch event on September 15, 1978.

Spinks’s post-boxing life included working for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, winning its word title in 1992. In 2009, he was featured in the documentary FACING ALI, in which notable former opponents of Ali speak about how fighting Ali changed their lives. In 2017, he was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.

Our publisher “Bad” Brad Berkwitt who was reached for comment said, “Leon did the impossible beating a legend in Muhammad Ali in what was only, his 8th professional fight. Over the years, I have been around Leon at events and he always was a sweetheart, who loved his fans. We have lost a “Brother In Boxing”. RIP Leon…

Ringside Report sends our condolences to Leon Spinks’ family during their time of grief.

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