Best light heavyweight title reigns

I would have to go with Michael Spinks. Like Mike Tyson, he unified the belts and defeated every fighter who had a legitimate claim to the throne. And he did so in the midst of a very dangerous Light Heavy Division. He was 11-0 (8 KOs) in Light Heavy title fights and reigned for 4 straight years without ever losing his title in the ring. He only left the division to pursue the even more arduous challenge of winning the Heavyweight title. Although Larry Holmes had lost a few steps at that point, beating him was still no easy task. (as evidenced by the fact that Larry beat an undefeated Ray Mercer, and was competitive with a prime Evander Holyfield 7 YEARS LATER!). Many people only remember him getting destroyed by Mike Tyson, but, from his capturing the Olympic Gold Medal to unifying all the belts at Light Heavy, Michael Spinks was pure class.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying Spinks is a lock to beat the Old Mongoose. I consider Moore, Loughran, and Spinks all to be ATGs. But, Spink's title reign is clearly beyond reproach.

 

I might also throw Victor Galindez in there. Lots of defenses against really good opposition.

 

DM has the highest number of defences on record. 20+.. lineal defences too.

proof that longevity alone does not automatically make one an ATG.

 

DM is a very good fighter in my opinion. But his reign is the epitome of quantity over quality.

 

An all time tournament: Tunney, Charles, Spinks and Jones Jr.

 

Spinks was very good, but he won a title at a time the division was not quite as good as the late '70s

Mustafa and Qawi were obviously very good wins, but neither guy seemed to be in their absolute best shape for the fight. Not his fault, I know.

Other than those two, his list of challengers was not eye opening.

The next best guy he defended against was Eddie Davis, and that was a razor close fight - despite what novice judges (really, referees) Joe Cortez and Larry Hazzard scored.

Also, his best wins leading to his title shot were former Saad Muhammad victims (twice, actually) - Yaqui Lopez and Marvin Johnson. He also stopped Vonzell Johnson in a title defense, right after Saad had done so. Murray Sutherland, another challenger, had also been stopped by Saad.

 

I still think what Spinks accomplished was impressive. That being said, after researching and reminding myself just how incredible Archie Moore's Light Heavyweight run was (especially after it took him so long to get his overdue shot at the title), I changed my mind and give Moore the #1 spot. All things being equal, and ignoring the limited focus of the post which dealt with "lineal title reigns" my vote for best LHs ever is: 1) Charles, 2)Moore, 3) Spinks. (I am not ruling out Langford, but, am choosing not to weigh in on him based on lack of footage that I have seen in order to fairly evaluate)

 

I think you're glossing over Spinks' pre-title wins. Starching Marvin Johnson was a "GREAT" win. Johnson beat Mate Parlov for the title, Victor Galindez for the title and he won one of the vacant titles when Spinks left the division.

I would hardly classify Marvin Johnson as simply a "former Saad victim." Marvin Johnson was great.

And Yaqui Lopez was coming off the Fight of the Year with Saad Muhamamd when Spinks wiped him out, too.

Also, Spinks beat Murray Sutherland before he won the title (before making a defense against him), and before Saad defended his title against Sutherland.

Spinks also unified against Qawi, who essentialy ruined Matthew Saad Muhammad's career. Spinks also floored and beat Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, who beat Matthew Saad Muhammad, as well.

And Qawi was most defintely in good shape. Spinks, on the other hand, lost his wife in a car accident about a month before the Qawi fight. (Qawi even went to the funeral.) And Spinks' daughter (who was a toddler) came into his dressing room before the Qawi fight and asked where her mother was, and Spinks broke down in his dressing room and his cornermen weren't sure he was even going to make it into the ring.

And he ended up spanking Qawi and winning a pretty clear decision.

I think you're not giving Spinks a fair shake.

 

John Henry Lewis has been getting more credit lately too.

 

IMO Victor Galindez had the best reign, which is the title to this thread. One of the defining elements to a reign is the willingness to put the title on the line against the best and rematch a tough fight. This is what Galindez did. Prior to winning the title he fought Jorge Ahumada and Avenamar Peralta several times - his top competition at 175 in the Argentine rings - and rematched Yaqui, Fourie, Kates and Ahumada again. He didn't take the easy way out. Neither did Archie Moore after the Durelle fight. He put the title on the line against him after their brutal first fight. What always bothered me about the Spinks reign was that he never rematched Eddie Davis. IMO Davis beat him in their fight. I rewatched it recently and again I had Davis winning. If we're talking title reigns specifically, a champion will give a tough fight a rematch and come back with a better fight plan rather than avoid.

 

Spinks was supposed to fight a rematch with Qawi in the fall of 1984 after the Davis fight, but the fight was cancelled a few weeks before because Qawi was injured in training. In the spring, Davis was knocked out by Marvin Johnson. And Spinks moved up to heavyweight and defeated Larry Holmes.

Spinks signing to fight Qawi (who had knocked out Davis) in a rematch and moving up to heavyweight to fight Holmes doesn't sound like Spinks was "avoiding" anyone.

 

He was signed to rematch Eddie Mustafa too, but Eddie failed to make the agreed upon weight. So the fight was canned.