Leon Spinks
Leon Spinks was an American professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1995. He won the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1978 after defeating Muhammad Ali in a split decision. Spinks also had a brief career as a professional wrestler in the 1990s. He died in a car accident in 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
About Leon Spinks in brief
Leon Spinks was an American professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1995. He won the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1978 after defeating Muhammad Ali in a split decision, in what was considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. He was later stripped of the WBC title for facing Ali in an unapproved rematch seven months later, which he lost by unanimous decision. Spinks also had a brief career as a professional wrestler in the 1990s, working for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and holding the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship in 1992. As an amateur, Spinks won numerous medals in the light heavyweight division. The first was bronze at the inaugural 1974 World Championships, followed by silver at the 1975 Pan American Games, and gold at the 1976 Summer Olympics; the latter alongside his brother Michael Spinks, who won middleweight gold.
Leon served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1973 to 1976. He is the only man to take a title from Ali in the ring, as Ali’s other losses were non-title contests or bouts where Ali was the challenger. His characteristic gap-toothed grin was featured on the cover of the February 19, 1978 issue of Sports Illustrated. His last fight was in 1981, and what would be his last opportunity to win the heavyweight title, he suffered a loss via TKO in the third round at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. He began boxing in the cruiserweight division in the late 1970s, and began boxing as a heavyweight in the early 1980s. He died in a car accident in 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He had a son, Michael, in 2011.
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This page is based on the article Leon Spinks published in Wikipedia (as of Feb. 07, 2021) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
