I'm asking this,since Spinks ,by some account far better neutralised Qawi's attack and arguably fought and beat once a better version of Holmes than Holyfield had to face. BTW when was Spinks' knee injury.In 1980? Holyfield,at this point in time,at least upto thefirst Bowe fight,did not at least to me have the heaviness in bone structure to decisively turn the fight in his favour.
The Spinks of '88 was a rusty and exit-bound fighter bent on a new beginning. The '85 version of Spinks was a fighter that had activity and desire in his corner.
Well,yes he was inactive...but it's difficult to judge how good he was based on just the Tyson fight...
It would have been a war and one for the ages, Holyfield could punch, but so could Spinks, and Spinks would have boxed and forced Holyfield to be the aggressor I pick Holy by Split Decision
I think Spinks carried the injury thoughout his career, but he needed another operation before the Tyson, but decided to risk the fight without the operation. There is no way that version of Spinks could beat Holyfield, particuarly near vintage 91 Holyfield.
I am assuming this is at Heavyweight. I believe Holyfield will win a close decision or maybe, just maybe, score a late stoppage at this weight. If they met at the Cruiserweight limit I will go with Spinks to outpoint Holyfield. I say this knowing fully well that Spinks really never fought in the cruisers. Still I feel that this weight would have been more fair to both of them. Here, Spinks' unorthodox style, speed and overall brilliance would have been a bit too much for Holyfield, IMHO.
