Leon Spinks
("Neon Leon")

BORN   July 11 1953; St. Louis, Missouri
HEIGHT 6-1
WEIGHT 194-225 lbs
MANAGER Mitt Barnes
TRAINER Emanuel Steward

Spinks began his career with great performances and was - National Amateur Light Heavyweight Champion three times, Olympic Light Heavyweight Gold Medal Champion and Heavyweight Champion of the World in only his eighth bout; Not only did he earn these remarkable accomplishments but he was the winner over Muhammad Ali in the process - a distinction he shares with Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick

On the negative side, these early achievements pushed Leon onto a greater level of competition before he was truly ready; He had not yet developed or perfected the skills required to fight with the better men; In addition, he lacked the necessary focus to compete at the very highest level; Losses and discouragement were inevitable

During his career, Spinks defeated such men as Ali, Alfredo Evangelista, Bernardo Mercado, Jesse Burnett, Tom Fisher and Andre Crowder

Leon is the brother of Michael Spinks and father of Cory Spinks; Both are boxers

*** SOME AMATEUR BOUTS (178-7-0, 133 KO) ***

1974
          -Spinks won the National AAU Light Heavyweight Championship
          -Spinks won the World Championship Light Heavyweight Bronze
           Medal in Havana, Cuba

1975
       Thomas Johnson               Shreveport, La                   W  3
          -National AAU Light Heavyweight Championship
       Orestes Pedroza              Mexico City, Mex                 L  3
          -Spinks won the Pan American Games Light Heavyweight Silver Medal

1976
          -Spinks won the National AAU Light Heavyweight Championship
       John Davis                   Cincinnati, Oh                   W  3
          -Spinks won the United States Olympic Light Heavyweight Trials

       Abddelatif Fatihi            Montreal, Que, Can              TK  1
       Anatoly Klimanov             Montreal, Que, Can               W  3
       Ottomar Sachse               Montreal, Que, Can               W  3
       Janusz Gortat                Montreal, Que, Can               W  3
       Sixto Soria                  Montreal, Que, Can              TK  3
          -Spinks won the Olympic Light Heavyweight Gold Medal


*** PROFESSIONAL BOUTS ***

1977
Jan 15 "Lightning" Bob Smith        Las Vegas, Nv                   TK  5
Mar  5 Peter Freeman                Liverpool, Eng                  KO  1
Mar 20 Jerry McIntyre               Louisville, Ky                  KO  1
May  7 Pedro Agosto                 St. Louis, Mo                   KO  1
Jun  1 Bruce Scott                  Montreal, Que, Can              KO  3
Jul    George Jerome                Vancouver, BC, Can             SCH   
       -This bout was scheduled; The outcome is not known
Oct 22 Scott LeDoux                 Las Vegas, Nv                    D 10
Nov 18 Alfio Righetti               Las Vegas, Nv                    W 10

1978
Feb 15 Muhammad Ali                 Las Vegas, Nv                    W 15
          -WBC Heavyweight Championship of the World;
           WBA Heavyweight Championship of the World
Apr 25 Leroy Diggs                  Santo Domingo, DR               EX  4
Jun 30 George Mostardini            Chicago, Il                     EX  4
Sep 15 Muhammad Ali                 New Orleans, La                  L 15
          -WBA Heavyweight Championship of the World

1979
Jun 24 Gerrie Coetzee               Monte Carlo, Monaco             LT  1

1980
Jan 12 Alfredo Evangelista          Atlantic City, NJ               KO  5
Mar  8 Eddie "The Animal" Lopez     Las Vegas, Nv                    D 10
May  3 Kevin Isaac                  Redwood City, Ca                TK  8
Oct  2 Bernardo Mercado             Las Vegas, Nv                   TK  9
          -WBC Heavyweight Championship Elimination Bout

1981
Jun 12 Larry Holmes                 Detroit, Mi                     LT  3
          -WBC Heavyweight Championship of the World

1982
Feb 24 Ivy Brown                    Atlantic City, NJ                W 10
Oct 31 Jesse Burnett                McAfee, NJ                       W 12
          -NABF Cruiserweight Championship

1983
Mar  6 Carlos DeLeon                Atlantic City, NJ               LT  6

1985
Feb 21 Lupe Guerra                  Detroit, Mi                     TK  4
Apr  9 Rick Kellar                  Honolulu, Oahu, Hi              TK  2
May  9 Tom Fisher                   Detroit, Mi                      W 10
Jun 29 Tom "Franco" Thomas          Santa Rosa, Ca                   W 10
Dec 13 Kip Kane                     New York, NY                    TK  8
          -WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Championship

1986
Mar 22 Dwight Muhammad Qawi         Reno, Nv                        LT  6
          -WBA Cruiserweight Championship of the World
Aug  2 Rocky Sekorski               Detroit Lakes, Mn               LT  6

1987
Jan 17 Jose Ribalta                 Coconut Grove, Fl               LT  1
Apr 28 Jeff Jordan                  Nagoya, Japan                    W 12
          -WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Championship
May 22 Angelo Musone                Jesi, Italy                     LK  7
Aug 29 Jim Ashard                   Eugene, Or                       D 10
Oct 20 Terry Mims                   Cleveland, Oh                    L 10
Dec 20 Ladislao Mijangos            San Antonio, Tx                  L 10

1988
Mar 18 Randall "Tex" Cobb           Nashville, Tn                    L 10
May 30 Tony Morrison                Trumbull, Ct                    LT  1

1991
Nov 15 Lupe Guerra                  Gary, In                        KO  3

1992
Feb 28 Andre Crowder                Countryside, Il                  W 10
Mar 20 Ricky Myers                  St. Louis, Mo                    W 10
Jun 17 Kenneth Bentley              Atlanta, Ga                      W 10
Jul 24 Jack Jackson                 Countryside, Il                 KO  3
Sep 26 K.P. Porter                  Lansing, Mi                      L 10
Dec 11 Kevin Poindexter             Countryside, Il                 KO  1

1993
Feb 27 James Wilder                 Davenport, Ia                    L 10

1994
Jun 22 Eddie Curry                  Raleigh, NC                     WF  9
Oct  1 Shane Sutcliffe              Nanaimo, BC, Can                 L  8
Oct 22 John Carlo                   Washington, DC                  LK  1

1995
Jun 19 Ray Kipping                  Maryland Heights, Md             W  8
Dec  4 "Young Sanford" (Fred Houpe) St. Louis, Mo                    L  8

2001
Aug 29 Rick Wilson                  Chicago, Il                     EX  4

Record courtesy of Tracy Callis, Historian, International Boxing Research Organization
 
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