He was fortunate he was in with Leon who due to all the money he made, the accolades of being champ, and his personal habits fought an inferior fight compared to the first one. Ali would have lost to most of the top 10 heavys of the time
He was absolutely little better at all in the rematch physically skill wise, maybe a touch better stamina but mentally as prepared as he could be given the significance .. it was Spinks who was worse as he was terribly unprepared ...
Ali showed some movement and skills, and didn't just lay on the ropes for 14 rounds like he did the 1st time.
Honestly, he had a lot of help from the ref. He got away with holding a lot which neutralized Spinks combination punching that won him the first fight. He fought a smart fight and Leon couldn't adjust.
From what I remember, it wasn't a good fight and I'm pretty sure I put the video I was watching of it on 2x half way through. It did, however add the greatest of Ali's accomplishments to his career by being the only three time lineal hw champ. The uniqueness is what made it great, not the fight. Ali clearly defeated Spinks but even still, looking at the fight compared to his performances in the mid 70s, just a few years earlier, is quite saddening and exposes the dark side of boxing.
the difference in the fights for me were simply this ... the refs Davey Pearl , one of the best ,, didnt let Ali hold at all , jab grab hold , none of it .. So Ali had to bang with Leon .. and it was a doozy !!! then in the 2nd... well Joubert let Ali do what he wanted in a very sloppy fight ... even tho he penalized in the 6th .. going off memory, And I think Joubert lost any sort of command in it ...... "Sloppy?" howled a happy Angelo Dundee, the trainer who had plotted Ali's battle plan. "It was beautifully sloppy. It was gorgeous sloppy, wonderful sloppy. And it was the only damn way we were going to beat Spinks." The plan was simple. Ali would jab, jab, throw a right and grab. When Spinks came flailing in, Ali would hook his left hand around the back of Spinks' head and pull him into an embrace, effectively limiting Spinks to one or two punches or pulling him off balance.
I understand Ali trained pretty hard (naturally) and it was probably the best he could be but still a whole lot less than he was. No one thought he could lose to Spinks in the first place so it would’ve been that much worse if Ali had lost the rematch. Somewhat of a relief that he simply did win the rematch. As a fight on the whole no too exciting.
Ali trained for the fight in a gym, Spinks trained at Studio 54 and in sketchy hotel rooms with even sketchier women.
It was n't a good fight by any stretch of the imagination but I was really happy at the result as it meant that Muhammad had evened the score and got out at the top for good - or so we thought at the time. It was the occasion rather than the event which made us Ali fans happy.
