Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks

Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks was a professional boxing match contested on February 15, 1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship.

Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks

Date	February 15, 1978
Venue	Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Title(s) on the line	WBA/WBC/The Ring/Lineal Undisputed Heavyweight Championships
Tale of the tape
Boxer Muhammad Ali Leon Spinks Nickname The Greatest Neon Hometown Louisville, Kentucky St. Louis, Missouri Purse $3,500,000 $320,000 Pre-fight record 55–2 (37 KO) 6–0–1 (5 KO) Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) Weight 224 lb (102 kg) 197 lb (89 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA/WBC/The Ring/Lineal Undisputed Heavyweight Champion
Result
Spinks defeated Ali by 15th round Split Decision.

Background

After his unanimous decision victory against Earnie Shavers, Muhammad Ali decided to face 1976 Olympic Gold medalist Leon Spinks, knowing that he would have to face Ken Norton for the fourth time or lose his WBC belt, after the No. 1 ranked Norton beat No. 2 ranked Jimmy Young in a title eliminator in November 1977.[1]

The fight

Before a sellout crowd of 5,298 that produced a gate of $756,300, The 10–1 underdog Spinks ended up winning two of the scorecards 145–140 and 144–141, while the third was 142–143 giving him a split decision win. Spinks became the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion after only eight professional bouts, and the only man ever to take a world title away from Ali in the ring, as Ali's other losses were either non-title bouts or world title fights where Ali was the challenger.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Aftermath

The bout was named The Ring magazine upset of the year.

The final round (15) was named The Ring magazine round of the year.

Sports Illustrated covered the bout, and with the historic upset put Leon Spinks on the magazine cover. Spinks was later stripped of his WBC heavyweight title on March 18, 1978 for refusing to fight No. 1 contender Norton. Instead, Spinks signed for a rematch with Ali at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. The rematch took place on September 15, 1978, for the World Boxing Association and Lineal Heavyweight Champion titles. Ali regained the title with a unanimous decision over Spinks.

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:[10]

References

1. "Ali-Spinks Winner Must Face Norton". Observer–Reporter. 2 December 1977. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
2. "Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks (1st meeting)". BoxRec.com.
3. "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
4. "Muhammad Ali meets his match as young Leon Spinks stuns the champ to take heavyweight title". New York Daily News. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
5. Felix Dennis and Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. pp. 254–258.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
6. Hugh McIlvanney (1982). McIlvanney on Boxing. Beaufort books. pp. 163–71.
7. Ferdie Pacheco (1992). Muhammad Ali: A View from the Corner. Birch Lane Press. pp. 153–58.
8. Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. pp. 350–60.
9. "One more time to the top". Sports Illustrated. 25 September 1978. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
10. "BoxRec - event". BoxRec.com.