Leon Spinks is indeed a story of rags to riches and then rags again. This individual rose against the odds to win the coveted title of Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World and then threw it all away.
Spinks was born on July 11 1953, in St Louis, Missouri, USA. He was a very weak baby, weighing less than four pounds at birth and became severely ill with jaundice in his first few weeks, but somehow miraculously survived. Leon was one of eight children brought up by his mother, Kay, in the city’s notorious Pruitt Igoe Housing Project where gang warfare and drugs and crime was rife.
Spinks would recall how his father, before abandoning his young family and moving on with another woman, had beaten him very badly and began taunting him by saying: “You’ll never be nothing.” The family lived in abject poverty while his mother struggled to raise the children.
To make things worse Leon suffered from low blood pressure and periodic fainting spells as a young boy which made him an easy target of bullying by the bigger and tougher boys.
He dropped out of school by the age of 15 as his mother was barely getting by with eight children to feed, so Leon and younger brother Michael decided to try out boxing as a way of keeping them off the streets, bringing some self-discipline and also occupying their time.
Boxing certainly suited Leon and his brother Michael and they both blossomed into skilful amateur boxers.
After a few years of dedication and hard training Leon was regarded as the best light heavyweight boxer in the USA, which is a great feat in itself.
The pinnacle of success for all amateurs is the Olympic Games and Leon clinched the gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, alongside his brother Michael Spinks, who won the gold in the middleweight division. By 1976, Leon had gained the reputation of being the best light heavyweight amateur boxer in the world by registering 133 knockouts over a three-year period.
He turned professional in 1977, and after competing in only eight professional fights Leon got a chance to challenge the reigning world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali for the title.
Ali, though ageing by now, was still considered a formidable opponent for the younger Spinks. On February 15, 1978, Spinks created history by beating Ali to clinch the world heavyweight title. Spinks went mad with the fame and adulation, he bought fur coats for a reputed cost of $90,000 each.
He had money to burn and acquired bodyguards and got high at parties. His life was just drugs, alcohol, cars and women.
The return match with Muhammad Ali was set for seven months later at the New Orleans Superdome with a crowd of 63,350 people packed in to witness the fight and a worldwide viewing audience of millions across the globe.
This time Ali emerged as a clear winner on points, beating the ill-prepared Spinks easily. It was the beginning of the end for Spinks and he would never win the title again.
I met Leon Spinks in New York a few years ago and asked him about his brief reign as the heavyweight champion of the world, interestingly he wasn’t bitter about anything and shared with me that his upbringing could never prepare him for what it meant to have the responsibility of being a role model and someone millions of people looked up to.
He also told me that a person like Muhammad Ali deserved to be the champion of the world as the public just loved him and, he in turn, loved the public.
Ali never had bodyguards and always had time for the people. Meanwhile, Spinks surrounded himself with bodyguards and just couldn’t win the hearts of the public as Ali did.
His life didn’t improve much after boxing as his beloved son Leon Calvin was brutally murdered in St Louis as he was driving home from his girlfriend’s house in 1990.
It was a horrific crime and only added to the misery and pain of Leon as he once again felt tragedy.
Spinks had medical issues from 2000 to 2010 and was hospitalised twice in 2014 in Las Vegas for surgery due to abdominal problems, which was causing bleeding and great pain.
In 2018, Leon was once again feeling very ill and was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, which sadly spread across his whole body including his organs.
This proud and strong man fought as best he could but had to finally succumb. Spinks died in hospital on February 5 2021 at age 67. Leon Spinks July 11, 1953 – February 5, 2021 R.I.P
Ajay Bhai Amrit is a freelance writer. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily shared by this newspaper.
