Leon Spinks one of the Greatest HWs of All Time--FACT

[Bill Paxtom]

Who Can Ever Forget

Friday Night ~ June 30, 1978

International Amphitheatre ~ Chicago, Illinois

World Heavyweight Champion ~ Leon Spinks
vs.
'The Italian Assassin' ~ George Mostardini

Promoter > Ernie Terrel

Attendance.......... 3754
Gate Receipts...... $53,000

Leon Spinks
Age .......... 24 years, 11 months
Height....... 6' 1"
Reach........ 76"
Weight....... 204 lbs.
Record....... 7-0-1 {5 KO's}

George Mostardini
Age.......... 27 years, 9 months
Height...... 6' 2"
Reach....... 77"
Weight..... 215 lbs.
Record..... 9-0-0 {8 KO's}

The 'Greatest' 4-Round Exhibition ever held.

The 'newly crowned' World Heavyweight Champion takes on a construction worker {Jack-hammer operator}
from Chicago's northwest side.

Pre-Fight Skinny >

Leon Spinks >
"It's just another fight. I know that he's out to make a name for himself, and I'm sure he will come out swinging.
But I'll be waiting for him, and will not be caught napping. I expect a typical 'street brawl', just like I had when
I was younger kid back on the streets of East St. Louis."

Sam Solomon {Trainer} >
"This is more than an Exhibition. This will be a 'War'. This guy has nothing to lose. I'm sure he wants to look good
in front of his hometown fans. He would like nothing better than to knock Leon out. I made Leon aware of that."

Lester Holmes {Attorney for Leon Spinks} >
"This exhibition is to help inject life into Chicago Boxing. We're here to help out Ernie Terrell, who is trying to help
out the young boxers here. We waived our 'standard' $10,000 Boxing Exhibition appearance fee. We agreed on
$5000, plus all expenses {Hotel and Travel}.

George Mostardini >
"I've been in the Ring with stronger fighters. Walter E. Moore is stronger than Leon and punches a lot harder.
If I can hold my own with Walter, then I'm sure that I can handle Leon."

"I've been slugging away with some real tough guys at the Woodland Boys Club. There's some tough Motherfuckers
that work out there. If you have any 'dog' in you, they'll rip you apart. So I know that I can stay in the Ring with Leon."

"Look, I'll knock his head off. I'm not here to play, I'm here to knock his ass out."

Ralph Peluso {Manager for George Mostardini} >
"This is an opportunity for my guy. Realistically, George is about 1-Year away from being a contender. But George
is about 300% better than he was one year ago, and he continues to improve. He doesn't have the boxing skills
that Leon has, but George has the strength to stay in there with him."

[ykdadamaja]

Drugs got to Spinks... he was free-basing before free-basing was popular. lolol...

Plus, he probably was a tad bit too small for a durable HW. Small without all of the power of a Tyson, he was bound to be bullied around.

About 2 or 3 inches taller, and/or with the power of at least Ken Norton, he would have made the heavyweight scene look a little different back then and today.

[Master]

The Ali victory came too soon he could have been a real contender instead of a lucky champion.