Ali "The Greatest" losing to Spinks

That is an artefact of how long he managed to hold onto the title.

 

Judge Art Lurie obviously didn't get the memo... "No, Art, it's ok Ali loses this one, the rematch will be a doddle".

 

Ali's team severely misjudged this one. Muhammad was way out of shape,over the hill and totally disinterested in the whole project from start to finish. He spent over half the fight doing nothing,letting Neon Leon pummel him and being worn down in consequence. He thought he could waste points then stop his man later on,like he did Ron Lyle for example. But unlike the Lyle fight three years prior to this one,he no longer had the speed,power and reflexes to catch up with his man. Muhammad came out in the last round hitting Spinks with all he had left that night,which was n't much and still could n't stop Leon. I was really happy when he won the rematch and retired (or so we thought and hoped) but he should never have lost the first fight.

 

Spinks only had a few fights but he was a talented prospect, Olympic gold medalist, and something of an unknown. Ali was only five months for getting his brain scramble by Ernie Shavers. Since that fight others have won the title in a similar time span

Sot Chitalada
Muargsurin (Before in only four fights!)
Davey Moore
Loma
Veeropol Sahaprom
etc

if you have a good amateur pedigree I don’t know if you need that many fights to become a good pro

 

Yes it did, but is there a point you are trying to make?

 

Leon may have been a long way from being the best of heavyweight title challengers but he was by no means the worst. He was better than the following -

Terry Daniels
Ron Stander
Joe Roman
Jean-Pierre Coopman
Alfredo Evangelista (x2)

To name 5. And how about Pete Rademacher? Challenging for Floyd Patterson's crown in his first pro fight. Spinks was a seasoned veteran in comparisson.

 

Mein Gott

It doesn't matter that he defined two decades of boxing, was in the ring against more all-time greats and hall of famers, including some of the hardest hitting men in history, than arguably any other heavyweight in the history, and was strongly advised to retire by his doctor after the Shavers fight -- Pacheco, a loyal physician for seventeen years outright refused to work with Ali after the refusal to hang them.

 

Google Boxrec and see how many champions lost when wear and tear caught up with them. You can make a whole page of threads out of that. There is a reason Robinson' saying remains so relevant "You always say 'I'll quit when I start to slide', and then one morning you wake up and realize you've done slid."

In boxing as in life you often don't know you've been falling untill you hit the ground.

 

Sorry but it's the point in Ali's career that is exactly why he lost to Spinks. It was a cherry pick gone wrong for an aging fighter that was more diminished than was generally known. As Rollin pointed out history is loaded with great fighters losing late in their careers to fighters they'd have crucified earlier.

 

I would probably add Steffen Tangstad to that list as well...

 

Definitely.

 

**** this is what I came to say, he also was in his physical peak. Leon was a marine, and Olympic medalist. Like you said also, Ali just got his brain melted by Shavers (god the 15th round in that fight is mythic), I just think we owe Leon credit. He wasn't a schmuck, he was in shape, with a weak resume. It was supposed to be a padding between bigger title defenses, Ali just beat Shavers, now hes taking an easier opponent which was his mistake cause Leon brought his best.

 

Other than Marciano, most boxers didn't quit when they should've.
And Not just heavyweights , throughout every weight class and
skill level ,from ATG' s to the club fighter / bare knuckle brawlers the vast
majority carried on too long.
Ali, by the time he faced Spinks in the 1st fight was already showing
signs of the of the neurological disease that would eventually kill him.
Add that with him not being in boxing shape, and underestimating
what Spinks brought to the table , it's a wonder that he even finished
the fight on his feet.
So yes it happened. He lost to Spinks. But he mustered just enough
of what was left of his greatness to find away to beat Spinks in the
rematch. The or his "Last Hurrah".