Michael Spinks was a super great professional boxer during the golden age of boxing (1964 – 1995)…..who dominated the light heavyweight division from 1983 – 1985…..and then holding the lineal heavyweight title from 1985 – 1988….who went undefeated in his first 31 professional fights….while beating such opponents as Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Marvin Johnson (all previous light heavyweight title holders) and Eddie Davis en route to becoming the undisputed light heavyweight champion….who followed with ten successful title defenses before decising to move up to a heavyweight …..when as an underdog, he defeated long-reigning IBF heavyweight champion Larry Holmes; in doing so, Spinks became the first reigning light heavyweight world champion to win the heavyweight title. In his final fight, Spinks was knocked out by Mike Tyson in 91 seconds for the only defeat of his professional career.
In 1985, Spinks beat David Sears by KO in the 3rd round….as seen in this video below… and then he followed with a knockout of Jim McDonald in title defenses before challenging Larry Holmes for the IBF and lineal heavyweight championship….as Holmes was trying to tie Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0 as the heavyweight champion….but it was Spinks who made history that night by winning a controversial and narrow fifteen-round unanimous decision and becoming the first world light-heavyweight champion since Tommy Burns in 1908 to win the world heavyweight title. His controversial victory over Larry Holmes was named Ring Magazine Upset of the Year. With this, Michael and brother Leon had also become the first pair of brothers ever to be world heavyweight champions….followed two decades later by Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko.
Any time a boxing fan gets a chance to watch a super great boxer like Michael Spinks perform in the ring….it is truly a treat….so ENJOY!!!
