Yes. I think that both his skills and some of his signature wins were underrated. I just wish the hell he would have stayed focussed. Frankly, I don't think that he ever had the potential to be the great fighter that Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali were, but he definately had the makings of a man who was better than Tim Witherspoon, Mike Weaver or Trevor Berbick... Had he reached his fullest capacity, he may well have been the best alphabet champion of the 80's, and made a lot more money than he did.
The best part about that fight was the post fight scuffle between Gerry Cooney and Larry Holmes. I think Cosell got in the middle and ended up with a bloody lip. Those were the days Boxing on network TV.
In truth neither Leon or Michael have a whole lot of smarts upstairs when you really look closley at the situation on hand..... Leon's main problem was, he came first to obtain success... Leon had no real guidance, and he was reckless in his own right... Leon was not gonna last long at the top.... His script was written before he ever won the title from Ali..... As for Michael, well, he benefitted from seeing Leon act and make a fool out of himself in the public's eye.... Michael was at least smart enough to not want to go down that same road that Leon did....... Plus, that jackass Butch Lewis saw potential in Michael, and Lewis was not gonna allow Michael Spinks to **** the dog like Leon Spinks did...... Therefore, Michael did benefit a great deal by coming around after Leon ****ed up..... Michael Spinks and Butch Lewis carefully planned each and every move..... Michael was the WAY BETTER handled fighter.......... MR.BILL
Perfect description:good.But I've always felt that if Leon took to cruiser more seriously, he could have made a more decent career.