EXCITEMENT. GREAT HEART. PROVIDED ME ONE OF THE 3 GREATEST SPORTS THRILLS OF MY LIFE....."and the new....." God Bless you Leon February 15, 1978 Shook the world in ways Leonard Hearns Mayw Pac even Tyson never did.
He was a tough old Marine that's for sure. I have met him a couple of times over the years and he has always been very cordial. I wish he would have hung up the gloves after the Qawi fight but I will always remember him as a guy that fought his heart out.
So true. I use to see him around at a lot of Corey's early fights in St Louis and he was always polite and engaging. Corey Spinks is the same way from a personality standpoint but as fighters they were polar opposites. Both were dominant amatuer fighters.
Leon crushing that Cuban at LtHvy in the 1976 Olympics was a big deal. The Cuban team was a big favorite going in The Games.
It was a great win. Ali was way past his best and not in the best shape, but Leon was in shape and showed great stamina and heart, if little skill. But it was a one off and Leon returned to earth shortly thereafter.
He should have hung it up for good after Carlos Deleon beat him up. The punishment he took against Qawi was hellacious.
Bloody hell ,i thought he'd died for a min there with the comment s .I actually had to Google him to see if he was still with us LOL
Well at least Leon's still with us .. Poor lad,I was think ing of something to pay tribute to him ,gone to soon sort of thing ..Gulp !
41 years! That's crazy. It doesn't seem like YESTERDAY necessarily, but it does seem like 10 or 15 years ago in my mind. I remember being overjoyed as a 10 year old that someone put Ali in his place. After all the trouble that Leon got into between fights, however, I was rooting for Ali in the rematch.
I find the Coetzee/Spinks one round whirlwind to be interesting on several levels. How aggressive Leon comes out and how he's the one bossing the action very early. How it was a big upset. It was also a break out performance for Coetzee, and an introduction to a new breed kind of heavyweight, from an entirely new continent. Exciting times.