Foreman's zaire defeat.

Ali was suffering from P.S. before the first Spinks fight.

 

Certainly. However it was before the second bout with Spinks that Ali realized his speech was slow and slurred. He did much more talking before the first Spinks fight than the second. The press was told it was Ali being serious for the fight however the real reason was as above.

 

He was suffering from P.S. around the Shavers fight. It's amazing what he did while having the condition. Who knows when it really started. It might not have been evident with the speech before '78 but it slowed his reflexes. And, yes, I agree, Ali didn't throw the Spinks fight. He looked as though he didn't even train much for the fight.

 

I'm not saying Ali did tank against Spinks 1, just that given his stature at the time (and his age and fading skills) it would have given him an opportunity to regain the title a 3rd time (another notch in his belt) because Leon was, obviously, going to be 'big money' prodded into an immediate rematch which he was.
As far as the other poster saying Leon was legit because of his Olympic success, Ray Leonard didn't challenge anyone in his 8th pro fight, nor did Patterson, or Frazier, or Foreman, etc, etc...
He was green as hell and given the rankings at the time, didn't in any way deserve a shot at the HW title.

 

It does not matter what SRL, Foreman did when they became pros. There was lots of public interest SPECIFICALLY regarding Spinks fighting Ali. The US boxers in the Olympics of 76 were the most talented highly watched in Olympic history. Everyone saw Leons bruising style and felt he would be an interesting opponent for Ali and for one bout...he was. You can believe what you want otherwise if you want to ignore the truth.

 

I had 2 copy dis sinc dome1 disturbed me :

look @ HOUDINI's posts. "Stevie G"/Solomon's Deeds' another alt.
Flooding every Ali related thread with lies. Will usually have the last word regardless of truth and regardless of any care about the truth. I really wish that people like you , including you death, making the world a better place this way.