Re: How good was Michael Spinks? 31-1 with 21 KOs
Spinks was a superb fighter, whose legacy will forever be tainted by the single loss on his register.
Always fit, always ready, he had an excellent amateur career and was completely dominant at the weight (when there was quite a bit of talent staying at light-heavy in those days)
Hugely awkward, with a unique herky-jerky style that was such a conundrum for opponents to try and figure out. He topped that off with a thudding and accurate right hand that contained enough power to knock out gigantic heavyweights.
Spinks created genuine history by being the first LHW to conquer the heavyweight division, after some seriously great fighters had failed. Homes was ageing, but still a very serious threat to anyone. It says how highly Spinks was regarded when he was widely seen as the only credible challenge to a peak young Tyson.
He was blown away by Iron Mike, no question about it. I remember watching the fight ...... the first knockdown was Spinks thinking clearly under pressure and taking a knee to buy himself a bit of time. Very clever. The second was 'goodbye'.
He retired after the Tyson fight and never came back. A great legacy, a shame that people only remember his last fight and not the Olympic Gold, wins over Qawi, Mustafa Muhammad, Davis and 10 successful title defences.
Up there with Moore and Charles in the debate about the greatest ever LHW. Comparing him to Holyfield is slightly unfair because a) they are naturally of different sizes and b) Evan Field was juiced to his eyeballs.
If God wanted us to be vegetarians, why are animals made of meat ?
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