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Fantasy Match: Michael Spinks Vs Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield

By Mike “Rubber Warrior” Plunkett

Like many of the hardcore boxing fans that frequent the message boards of Ringside Report, I often like to stop by the Classic Boxing Forum and discuss fantasy match-ups between fighters from different eras. The imagination is fertile territory when pitting two ring legends against each other and invariably, there will be many different viewpoints and often several different outcomes.

One such fantasy battle that has come up over the years amongst fans is a match-up between two manufactured heavyweights; Michael Spinks versus Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield.

Both of these all-time great fighters have in one way or another managed to make history and both are in many ways the polar opposite of each other with respect to their regard for the sport and their goals within it. Both of these fighters had some very notable, common foes. Adding intrigue to the matter, they both had varied results with their common opponents, relative to each other. Such is why a fantasy match-up between these two will be stimulating.

Michael Spinks won a gold medal in the middleweight class at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He turned pro in 1977, quickly making a name for himself in the light heavyweight division. Spinks was noted for solid boxing technique, a stiff left jab and one-punch knockout power in either hand. Adding to his formidable repertoire, Spinks possessed a herky-jerky rhythm. His movement wasn’t a thing of beauty, or even conventional fluidity, but it was undeniably effective at throwing off the timing of his foes.

He won his first world title in mid-1981 against Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. After a busy schedule of network television defenses, Spinks fought a surprisingly controlled unification bout with his WBC counterpart, Dwight Qawi in early-1983, winning a lopsided unanimous decision, forever cementing his reputation as an underrated ring general, as well as garnering him the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship. In 1985 and after successfully cleaning-out his natural weight class, and unhappy with the relative meager paydays afforded a champion of his stature at one-hundred and seventy-five pounds, Spinks opted to gamble with history and challenge the undefeated, albeit aging Larry “The Easton Assassin” Holmes for all of the marbles.

If the move itself seemed brave and ambitious, the reality of the matter was that Spinks wasn’t in love with the sport, and the heavyweight experiment was more of a way to exponentially increase his earnings while accelerate his schedule towards wanted retirement. A three month training regime aimed at adding useful muscle mass saw Spinks bulk-up to a listed two-hundred pounds. In the bout itself, Spinks greatness and competitive nature showed itself as he defied the odds, tactically employing deft movement, using his odd rhythm and busy work rate to edge the obviously deflating Holmes by mere inches on the scorecards, becoming the first light heavyweight champion in history to take the heavyweight crown.

Beyond 1985’s “September to Remember”, Spinks made no bones about his decision to continue with boxing. The plan from that moment onward was to maximize his earnings as a heavyweight, knowing that each assignment had the very real potential to be his last.

Like Spinks, Evander Holyfield was an Olympian, having come away from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics a bonze medalist in the light heavyweight division. Upon turning pro, Holyfield moved-up from light heavyweight to the more comfortable but lightly regarded cruiserweight division. In those days, cruiserweight was regarded as a haven to slothful light heavyweights or a place for smallish heavyweights to ply their trade, as opposed to being a competitive weight class. In reality, the cruiserweight division was but a mere five years old and in need of a marquee matchup capable of capturing the attention of the general public and propelling it onto the headlines.

Holyfield possessed sharp orthodox boxing skills, a very good left jab with an underrated left hook. Sharp combination punching was his forte, with rarely anything less than two punches at a time being offered. Less than two years into his professional career and with a mere twelve wins to his credit, the undefeated Holyfield engaged in what is universally regarded as the most dramatic and competitive cruiserweight title bout in boxing history, barely edging an older and heavier Dwight Qawi over fifteen heart-stopping rounds for the WBA Cruiserweight Title. Yes, that would be the same Dwight Qawi that Michael Spinks had literally shutdown and rendered offensively impotent just three years prior at light heavyweight.

Over the next two years, Holyfield would annex both the IBF and WBC Cruiserweight titles before moving up to the more dangerous but greener pastures of heavyweight. Like Spinks before him, Holyfield embarked on a strenuous workout regime designed to add functional lean body mass to his God-given Adonis-like physique. Unlike Spinks however, Holyfield had always talked about moving up to heavyweight. His ambition was a genuine desire to compete with the biggest and the baddest in his quest to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Any monies associated with such a deed, although important, were strictly a secondary consideration.

Although the semantics are arguable in the minds of some purists, Evander Holyfield ultimately went on to win versions of or the actual heavyweight championship of the world four times. In any event, in his first heavyweight championship match in 1990, there is no question that he beat the man who beat the man when he timed and pole-axed James “Buster” Douglas to win the Undisputed Heavyweight Title.

In the years that followed that highlight moment, Holyfield would lose, regain, lose and ultimately regain various versions of the heavyweight championship against the very best and in many cases, biggest fighters the division had to offer. If we learned anything about Evander Holyfield between the years 1990 and 2000, it was that he was a man whose fierce determination and supernatural will to win made him a dangerous proposition to count out, even when the odds were stacked highly against him.

So the question remains, how would a match between these two great fighters have gone down?

In truth, I believe that there is no easy answer. If anything, I think that there are a couple of different ways the bout could have played out.

If the match were to have occurred circa mid-1987 at the one-hundred and ninety pound limit of the day, it would have been at a point where Holyfield would have attained enough confidence and seasoning to pose a perpetual threat for fifteen rounds. Fighting at his natural and most destructive weight, it could be expected that Holyfield would have fought at a more accelerated pace in an attempt to wear Spinks down and force him into extended exchanges. At this weight, Holyfield would have his timing and conditioning tuned to a fine point. The trick would be to force Spinks into making a mistake at the cost of making mistakes, whilst staying competitive on the scorecards, a distinct likelihood, whilst protecting himself from sharp, quick counters and the “Spinks Jinx”.

If the bout were contested at heavyweight pitting the variant of Spinks we saw in both of the Holmes matches against the Holyfield of the Douglas match, we’d be seeing these two men perform within a mere few pounds of each other while at the height of their fistic prowess, over the twelve round distance. The difference here would be that we’d see Holyfield fight more in spurts as opposed to pressing the attack in a more sustained manner, thus presenting more opportunity for Spinks to land his vastly underrated left jab. When considering how this would have turned out, I cannot help but remember how a bloated Larry Holmes troubled an in-rushing Holyfield despite being over a decade past his best and clearly running on fumes.

There can be little question that Holyfield was able to outbox and outwit some far bigger foes. Equally true, Holyfield demonstrated the grit to withstand the notable power of the biggest and strongest hitters of his day. I just don’t believe that between these two, much of that would matter.

In my minds eye, I cannot help but envision a tactical chess match after an initial attempt at an early bum rush by Holyfield. If anything, I see Spinks knack for throwing off a foe’s rhythm upsetting the bouncing Holyfield’s offensive spurts, or the sharp and lightning-quick Spinks snake-like left jab causing The Real Deal to constantly be forced to regroup and reload thus allowing Spinks to use his mobility to its full if quirky advantage. In the end, I have it being another razor-close Spinks verdict, simply based on styles.

That doesn’t mean that I believe Michael Spinks would have made a better heavyweight champion than Evander Holyfield had he been active through the nineties into year 2000. In fact, Holyfield was better suited to dealing with super heavyweights and talented big men that had a semblance of boxing ability and that willingness to offer their offense in the hopes of crushing the smaller man. I simply feel it would be a case of a given style cancelling out the aggressive style of a similarly sized great fighter.

In any event, both of these men made history and both should be regarded for their considerable if unlikely accomplishments. The given scenarios are but two viewpoints. Such a fantasy match could play out many other ways, as boxing is of course the theater of the unexpected.

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