Two of the weaker heavyweight title holders pitched against each other . Leon Spinks of the 1st Ali fight V Bruce Seldon of the Tucker fight ?
"Neon" Leon would crowd him, force him to fight three minutes of every round, and Bruce would "fall down" a couple times and not get up around the seventh. (See the end of the McCall fight.) Leon's performance against Ali in their first fight was incredible.
Leon Spinks, at his best was a small, limited, over achiever type of heavyweight. He couldn't bring more than he brought for the first Ali fight and if he didn't train hard he could bring much less as seen later on in his career. Bruce Seldon was a bigger, stronger, heavyweight with an excellent jab and speed, whose performance could run from poor to very good if he was motivated to fight. IMO, that is what separates boxers like Seldon, Page, Tubbs, Dokes, from the Leon Spinks type fighter. Seldon, Page, Tubbs, Dokes had out of the ring issues and sometimes they "didn't show up" but they also had size and speed that made them a problem for anybody when they were "on." If Spinks and Seldon fought at their best, Seldon would win, if the best Spinks fought the unmotivated Seldon, Spinks would get a decision, if the motivated Seldon fought a less well trained Spinks, Seldon would knock him out quick. The difference in these two is that Seldon is much more physically gifted than Spinks.
I get all that .Bruce looked physically More the better heavyweight ,and I can see more chance of him stopping Leon than the other way round. Bruce showed s good jab against Tucker and that s probably going to be his main weapon against a rushing in Spinks .I really can't see Spinks suddenly catching him as McCall did and koing him ,just hasn't got the punch to do so . So I'll go with Spinks getting KO'd around the 9th after throwing himself in to the fight but coming off worst via Bruce's jab catching him repeatedly.
I like this description. Neon Leon was undersized, undertrained, and overmedicated, but when he came to fight, he could fight. Seldon was a joke with he worst chin in heavyweight championship boxing history.
Right. And we're NOT looking at an unmotivated Spinks. We're looking at the best version of Leon Spinks who was in great shape and threw hard punches for 15 rounds against a Bruce Seldon who was leading by one point on two cards against Tony Tucker when the fight was stopped due to an eye injury. I think Spinks sets a pace Seldon couldn't keep up with and stops or breaks Seldon (and he quits) late. Seldon performed better against guys who were content to let Seldon lead while they covered up and then tried to counter. Spinks of the Ali fight would've thrown more than Seldon while coming forward. I just don't think Seldon would handle that well over 15 rounds. Tucker was tagging him freely in that fight before the eye injury. And the older version of Tucker wasn't the busiest guy in the ring. But when he came forward and let his hands go, Seldon got hit a lot and just backed up and took it. When he wasn't dictating the pace, Seldon tended to get hit a lot. And Seldon was only 6'1" ... two inches shorter than Ali. This content is protected
Although Seldon presents with substantial physical advantages, if we are talking about the Spinks from the Ali fight, I would have to go with him. Seldon may have a better physique than Ali, but he is not any bigger or stronger. And, it wasn't as if it took huge punches to hurt Seldon. I think Leon was capable of at least hurting Seldon. And, the Leon from the Ali fight would certainly outwork Seldon. I will go with Spinks UD. Over 15 rounds, Seldon would get too tired, and probably be stopped. I confidently pick Michael Spinks to stop Seldon.
Seldon had a great jab, fast and hard. I think that would be enough to disrupt Spinks and his vaunted pacesetting. You must ask yourself how hard it really was to take a debilitated, undertrained, aged Ali into deep water? Was that really a great accomplishment? Seldon has more than a few Spinks level pelts on his resume. I think he wins or stops Neon Leon, who himself didn't have the sturdiest mandible.
Earnie Shavers was nearly knocked out in the 15th round by Ali five months before Spinks fought him. Watch the 15th round of Ali-Spinks. That was the round of the year for 1978. Spinks and Ali went to war that round. I don't want to hear how debilitated Ali was. Most guys today couldn't even throw the number of punches those guys threw in the 15th round, let alone take them. Most guys today are lucky to last 12. Spinks was great that night. If we're specifically comparing Spinks in the first Ali fight and Seldon in the Tucker fight, Spinks wins, likely by stoppage. Whatever problems Leon had, he was awesome that night.
I could post Seldon losing to big boobs Gerald Nobles. But Spinks against Ivy Brown and Seldon against Nobles isn't what we're talking about.
