Cant find very much info online other than dates served 73 to 76... Does anyone know what his MOS was? I dont think he went to Nam, was he drafted though? What was his highest rank earned? He seems like the kinda Marine that would have found himself in the Colonel's office quite a bit By contrast, seems like contemporary fighter Ken Norton's Marine Corps service was brought up alot more. In almost all of his fights I've seen, its mentioned during broadcast, where as with Leon seems to just be brought up randomly. Fun fact: the Marines always gave Clay hell! From Wepner to Norton to Leon. May be they never liked him cause he was a draft dodger
I'm pretty sure he was a corporal when he discharged. I can say for sure he never was in Nam and from what I was told, the Marines was the best thing to ever happen to him. He had a pretty rough go as a kid. My old coach trained him when he was a young man and said that he was the most talented fighter he had ever seen. He just had demons that he couldn't beat. Outside of his current health issues it seems like he is doing pretty well with a nice home in Vegas and a wife that really takes good care of him. He doing much better than he was in the mid 90's when I saw him losing to club fighters in St Louis casinos. He was pretty much homeless st that time and suffering from CTE, Alcoholism and probably much worse.
He left the Marines shortly after the Olympics. But he wore his dress blues and his gold medal to the third Ali-Norton fight. It's the only time I saw him wear the uniform. I doubt anyone could have predicted that of all the fighters in attendance at Yankee Stadium that night, Leon sitting quietly in his uniform would be the guy who would whip Ali and take his title. https://media.gettyimages.com/photo...dience-during-picture-id108993999?s=2048x2048 One of Leon's best friends in the Marines was Roger Stafford, who became a top welterweight contender in the early 80s. You should read the book on the Spinks brothers, "One Punch from the Promised Land." It's very entertaining. Lots of colorful stories, to put it mildly.
His MOS was 521-Basic. Also, you’re right about Leon having a few problems adjusting to marine life. Here is a piece discussing Leon’s rocky start in the service. “When he enlisted in the Marine Corps, boot camp was 13 weeks long. However, he remained in boot camp for six months at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California, because he was said to have had trouble adjusting to military structure.” “But he and his drill instructors persevered, and Spinks finally graduated from Platoon 3090 in December 1973. He then joined the All-Marine boxing team at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, which was a good fit for his tremendous talent, energy and drive. When Spinks stepped into the boxing ring at Camp Lejeune for the first time, Marine Corps assistant coach J.C. Davis, who became the first African American Marine Corps boxing coach in 1967, immediately knew he had an incredibly talented young man. Within just 15 seconds, Spinks knocked out his opponent.” https://www.military.com/history/famous-veterans-leon-spinks-man-who-dethroned-muhammad-ali.html
