How good could Leon Spinks have been?

I can remember an interview in the Ring Magazine with George Benton in a "reflective mood", talking about a comeback fight after Leon lost to Ali, stating that "Spinks could beat George Foreman just by jumping all over him". Make of that statement what you will.

 

Spinks' cornermen left a lot to be desired.

Sam Solomon - who had been in Liston's corner when he lost to Ali - went wild with power, yet he couldn't control Spinks. George Benton stormed off and left Spinks' corner during the middle of the rematch with Ali, because people wouldn't listen to him. Spinks, who was in good shape for the fight, left camp and they couldn't find him for days. They ended up tracking him down to a cabin in the woods where he was getting stoned. He got swallowed up by all the leaches around him after beating Ali.

It was total chaos.

That said, the division as a whole was in chaos, too. Foreman and Bobick were considered the top challengers for Ali's title in 1977, and they both lost (to Young and Norton). Then Foreman retired at 28.

As 1978 began, Ali was the champion, and Norton and Young were considered the top two contenders. They were followed by Shavers (who had just went 15 with Ali - and some thought Shavers did enough to win) and also Ron Lyle (who was coming of a brutal win in 1977 over Joe Bugner (that sent Bugner into retirement for a while).

So you had Ali, Norton, Young, Shavers and Lyle at the top at the start of 1978. And within six months, they were all out.

Ron Lyle murdered a guy (who he'd been in prison with) on New Year's Eve. Lyle had signed to fight the unknown Larry Holmes in 1978, but that was put on hold ... as was Lyle's career.

Then Ali lost to Leon Spinks in one of the biggest upsets ever.

Then Shavers stepped in (as a replacement for Lyle) to fight Holmes, and Shavers lost badly.

Then Young signed to fight the totally unknown Ossie Ocasio, and Young lost badly to Ocasio.

Then Norton fought an injured Holmes, and Holmes beat Norton.

So, by the summer of 1978 ... just half way through the new year ... Ali-Norton-Young-Shavers-Lyle were out ... and Leon Spinks and Larry Holmes shared the title.

To call that shocking would be putting it mildly.

Then you had uknown Ocasio rated and Joe Frazier talking comeback against another unknown Kallie Knoetze, before Frazier pulled out and Knoetze being rated.

It was a mess.

In 1978, if you had to pick who was going to emerge on top of all that and actually become a Hall of Famer ... the Olympic Gold Medalist and Lineal World Heavyweight Champion Leon Spinks was probably a surer bet than Ali's old sparring partner Larry Holmes, who could've easily become another Jimmy Ellis.

But that's why they fight the fights.

And that's why having a stable team, like Holmes had compared to Leon Spinks, and few vices, like Holmes had compared to Spinks, certainly helped turn the tide in Holmes' favor.

People tend to bash Spinks now. But when he was on, he was no joke.

He was one of those people like Amy Winehouse. Very talented, tended not to be mean or hurt others, but very self-destructive. And the wheels just came off. He probably should've been dead by 1982 ...

 

Don't forget Lyle got stopped in 2 rounds by Lynn Ball around the time