1972 Bob Foster vs 1983 Michael Spinks, 15 rounds at 175 lbs.

You know I'm going to go with Foster.
Spinks had his hands full with Eddie who was weight drained and I always wondered what would have happened if he met a fully prepared Eddie because Eddie was getting to Spinks in the early rounds.
Foster TKO 12.

 

That was a good fight, and I always wondered if Eddie was 100%. He's certainly looked better.

 

Eddie took some punishment in that fight.

 

What happened was that he ballooned up to Heavyweight to fight Snipes at 201 3/4 pounds. 32 days later he was in the ring against Spinks having to have dropped 26 3/4 pounds - not far off a pound a day. At an agreed upon late weigh in (12.30) he was still 1 3/4 pounds over. He went to a local health club and did 3 cycles of skipping in a sweatsuit while being cheered on and encouraged by none other than Saad Muhammad before going back and weighing 175 on the dot. Saad was also in his corner incidentally. He tired badly around the midway point of the fight. The fault lay with him and his team of course they did not keep a close enough eye on his weight the day prior.

 

I could see why he took the Joe Frazier fight. It was for the title and probably a lot of money. He almost couldn’t pass up a shot like that. Even the Ali match was likely enticing. But fighting all those other heavyweights seems foolish

 

Wow, this is news to me. Losing that much weight that fast would put any athlete at a disadvantage. My dad and I watch the Muhammad-Spinks fight and we were both pretty surprised Eddie looked so bad at times, we were especially stunned when he was knocked down. We were rooting for Eddie.

However, I don't want to take too much from Michael, he did a great job and was very great in that division, top four or five ATG for me.

 

Michael may have won anyway obviously and he was also still a bit below his greatest at this point. It would have been a bit harder tho. The overall weight loss is easily verified on boxrec and his troubles the day of the fight are well documented. Again tho that's not Spinks problem as we agree. If Mustafa had half the aggression, will to win and dedication your man Holmes had he would have been something.

 

Eddie had a cool boxing style and at times quite a wallop himself.

 

Eddie had KO power in either fist but was a bit too laid back and passive a lot of times to take anything like full advantage of it. He had great old school skill and a ton of moves. He was so smooth in there at his best and had a couple of great trainers on the way up.

 

I think that describes his style best.

 

Mike had as much height and length as Bob and also a solid jab and then superior right hand power to balance against Bob's left hook. At LH, Bob was used to being the school yard bully dwarfing and hitting harder than all his opponents, most of whom were just fair fighters. He had a limited style and predictable offense and showed very marginal defense, and again, all he ever did at this weight was stalk and walk down mostly retreating smaller guys. Mike has superior footwork and speed (Bob a robotic plodder / shuffler), upper body maneuverability for defense (Bob stood straight up). Mike had the stronger legs. Mike much more versatile. He takes away Bob's intimidation factor, frustrates him while tagging him and then starts outgunning him en route to a stoppage about round 9 or 10.

 

I'm going for Foster by late ko.

 

I've got Spinks personally, Foster would obviously give him a great fight- Possibly the greatest the division could ever see, but I've got to give it to Michael. Too crafty for me to pick against him.

 

Of course with Bob, Spinks had better be doubly wary of that left hook. Foster could absolutely crack and that punch was lethal.

Overall, however, I like Michael’s ring IQ and versatility. If he can out-jab heavyweight Larry Holmes (even an older version), Foster’s not going to win the battle of the jabs. And Spinks’ jinx of a right hand is every bit as deadly as Bob’s left hook.

But Michael could box, could counter, could chew guys up on the inside — uppercut with either hand with absolute power. He was the total package. Bob was great, but he wasn’t as well-rounded.

I have to think Michael pulls away late for a decision. He’s more adaptable and will find something that works and then hone that advantage to walk away with his hand raised.

But I really want to hear what our resident light heavyweight encyclopedia @George Crowcroft has to say about this one.

 

Im trying to remember now but did Eddie delay the start time to this fight because he threatened to pull out a couple hours before the TV start time? I member something went on. Eddie was so soft around the middle for this fight. Im assuming he had to defend by a certain date. Eddie really threw a ****** wrench into his career. The way he painfully dissected Johnson I thought he would hold that belt a long time.