Would Michael Spinks have been an ATG Cruiser

well money is part of seeing it as acrap division.

 

It's hard to say how he would have fared.

In '84 he barely beat Eddie Davis at 175 lbs and then there was talk of him moving up to CW to fight the established Carlos De Leon.

Based on how good DeLeon had looked in '83 and '84 and how Spinks looked against Davis, KO Magazine actually picked De Leon to beat Spinks!!

Timing is everything in boxing.

Through the ability to look back now, it seems crazy to anyone who was not watching closely at the time, but that is how it was.

Would Spinks have beaten De Leon if he had jumped up to fight him directly after the Davis Scare. With Hindsight, probably. But it would not have been an uncompetitive blow out. It was a competitive matchup.

If Spinks had dropped down from HW to fight Holyfield in '86-87, would he have beaten Holyfield? Maybe. But, it's a competitive matchup.

 

They should be drawing bigger money. Modern Cruisers are in some great fights. Boxing fans need to remove their biased views of the division. If you want talented big men that actually fight each other in their primes, this is the division to watch.

I think the problem for some fans is they aren't heavyweights ( even though most are above 200 pounds on fight night ) and lack the geographic diversity of the lower weight divisions.

 

I don't think it is a "crap" division.

It's just that it's right next to HW, which is always the "glamour" division.

So, it's lost some great fighters who should have fought there like Moorer and Spinks and who did fight there awhile, like Holyfield.

At least Holyfield gave it some prestige - for awhile.

 

Spinks would have brought the division alive if he were to fight in it, he was a draw. Before and after beating Holmes. He was the undisputed and undefeated LHW champion, then he became the lineal heavyweight champion beating the long time undefeated and proven champion.

 

what it is and what people think it is, are different things, and project that back to the 1980s.

 

I already explained how De Leon and Holyfield would have been competitive matchups for Spinks. So, it being "crap" is no excuse for Spinks bybassing it. He could have made good money fighting either of those two guys. It's just that he could make more $$ at HW - because it is the prestige division and always has been.

And, you saying it is/was "crap" is an opinion.

 

my opinion hasnt been stated yet.

You seem to think I have said it is crap.

 

In Sept. 85 Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tubbs and Larry Holmes were the champs. Larry was still rated #1 based on career accomplishments and the fact he hadn't been beaten. Tim Witherspoon was a live #4. Yes, Holmes provided the biggest $$ and was considered the true champion. But, in reality he was likely not the best HW. He had recently very narrowly escaped with a close decision over Carl Williams. That said, few were predicting Spinks would beat him as he had never fought above 175 lbs. In picking Spinks as an opponent, many experts were scoffing that Holmes was milking it to try and surpass Marciano's record. It was an intriguing matchup, as no reigning LHW Champ had won the HW title, but few thought of Michael Spinks as a threat to win. He had never fought as a HW. Many thought he would be blown out by Holmes.

 

I think so.

 

Depends on how long his body help up as he had that bad knee. I would definitely pick him to win the title but I don’t know how long he would have held it with Holyfield on the scene.