Some people argue that Spinks didn't really dominate a great era of Light Heavyweights, only that he came at a time when the best of the division were past their peak. How do you see peak Spinks against prime versions of John Conteh, Matthew Saad Muhammad, and Galindez?
All close fights but you won't find many on here that would argue against Spinks winning all three fights. I'm a massive Saad fan, but he wouldn't be able to keep bouncing back after eating the Jinx constantly with his 'defence'. Conteh would pose a challenge due to his all-round skillset and durability; I see Spinks edging out a very close decision. Again, Galindez would pose Spinks a lot of problems. I think Galindez was too inconsistent though; Spinks wins a decision. It depends whether you think Spinks was prone to hooks; that's Galindez's best chance,to try and stop him, but I personally feel Spinks can outbox him AND take Galindez's offence if he tries to get him in the trenches.
I also think Saad is just to open to ever be that effective against a fighter of Spinks qualities. He'd land the Jinx with regularity. Not seen enough of Conteh, to be honest. The only time Spinks was really open for a hook seemed to be when he'd throw the right uppercut lead from the outside. I'd often wonder why he did this, a man of his intelligence and ability should know the risks of throwing that punch from so far out. I think Spinks would probably lose the opening 2-3 rounds against all of them. He's one of the slowest starters I've ever seen, but soon as the 4th comes, he usually starts throwing his awkward combinations.
I would sugest watching the first Saad fight as it's on youtube. Conteh is nearing the end of his career by then but still shows off his skillset in a fantastic fight. as always, Sweet Pea is the man to ask for info. I'm not sure whether the Ahmuda (spelling?) fight is online; that's when he won the WBC title and I'm reliably informed it's a stunning performance.
Conteh in fairly agressive mode. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFRUPO6tq-s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqvIhyrI_dU&feature=related
Spinks could beat all 3, but on an off-nite he could get out pointed also. Spinks's power would probably cut & TKO Galindez & Saad......but the Conteh fight would be a boxing match.
Spinks takes close decisions off them ,although he might stop Galindez on cuts. Spinks beat a 29 year old Lopez, a 27 year old Johnson ,a 29 year old Mustapha,and a 30 year old Qawi, he has a fine record imo.
Spinks wins pretty good against Galindez and Saad, but Conteh would give him Eddie Davis type problems and Spinks would win a close decision.
I've never seen the Ahmuda fight online. Just a few minutes of highlights. Conteh was much more aggressive than usual. Very few Spinks lh fights though. Just loads of diferent uploads of the Tyson fight.atsch
Plus both Davis brothers when they were youthful.Spinks' record is great at lightheavyweight as he beat those 6 excellent fighters and didn't lose until he moved up and fought Tyson(although I thought past it Larry beat him at heavyweight also).But as far as lightheavyweight is concerned,he never lost while beating those 6,easily out boxing Qawi,who hammered Saad,who hammered Conteh.Spinks was the best of a golden era of lightheavyweights.
I'd likely ultimately pick Spinks over the lot of them, but a great period of time this was for the light heavy division, just imagine if they all came off prime for prime.
I think he'd murder Saad, beat Galindez handily and beat Conteh via decision, tho stylistically this would be his hardest bout of the three. He'd have to make sure he didn't doze at all as he could at times.
Well, I was in the middle of writing one of my longest, most in-depth posts ever just a couple of days ago in this thread until my computer crashed. Now I'm back, but **** attempting all that bull**** again. I wouldn't mind going off on this PC Office Space style right about now.