In a similar situation has RJJ , What if Spinks had pulled off the greatest win over Larry Holmes , then dropped down to Light heavy ? Would he suffer the same fate as Jones against Tarver ? Let's say Spinks takes on Andries and then Hearns , would the weight gain /loss effect him in these situations .?
I think Spinks was getting too worn out. His knee or knees I cant remember now and I dont think his heart was in it anymore. Talked to him at the Frazier statue unveiling and he looked so fragile to me. I know hes getting up there in age but yea fragile and the Blade was really fragile. Sad
Hate to hear it when these fighters who give us something to watch and argue about forever... are feeling the results of all of those hard fights and sparring.. wish all the boxers the best of health as they age... they become mostly out of mind once they retire... but then a lot them have to live another 30 or so years with in hard times
Boxing is like tennis, swimming, golf where there really aren't any seasons; they fight year-round, and when you're an up-and-comer, you may be fighting every other week (if not more often) trying to establish your name and put food on the table. By the time you reach Mayweather-level fame and income, the wear and tear can be tremendous. Much respect to the warriors who put so much on the line for what is frequently so little ...
When Michael Spinks left light heavyweight, he'd run out of challengers. The guys who fought for Spinks' three vacant belts were Marvin Johnson (who Spinks had knocked out six years earlier) against Leslie Stewart (Johnson won on cuts), Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (who Spinks dropped and won his first title against) vs the 1980 Olympian Slobodan Kacar (Kacar won a decision), and J.B. Williamson (a ranked nobody) against Prince Mama Mohammed (an even bigger nobody - Williamson won the decision). So, unless Spinks moved back down and fought Kacar (who wasn't that good and lost his title to Czyz pretty quickly), there wasn't much going on. Unlike Jones, who defeated the often-beaten Ruiz for an alphabet belt while Lennox Lewis was still the dominant world champion, Michael Spinks beat the dominant, unbeaten world champion Holmes. Spinks was also the first reigning light heavyweight champ in history to pull it off. Spinks' win was a much bigger win than Jones beating Ruiz. And Tarver and Jones had a long-running personal feud going back to their amateur days. There was nothing waiting for Spinks at light heavy. He made the right call.
I have to agree with this . Maybe another way of looking at it , what if Spinks HADN'T been successful at beating Holmes . Maybe even taking a bit of a whipping , that may have persuaded him to drop back down ? Or maybe he'd have called it a day full stop then .