The Spinks of 88' that got destroyed by Tyson was a shell of his former shelf. He had well documented bad knees and was pretty much retired at that point. I have often wondered why Spinks tried to bang with Tyson instead of moving like most thought he would do. Not sure if his bad knee's had something to do with it or it what. If we are talking the best Heavyweight version of Spinks that used his mobility then I would definitely favor him over the older Foreman. Prime for prime, I would take the 70's Foreman over Michael though.
Probably spinks by a hair decision. Foreman was rusty in 1988. 88 Spinks vs 90-91 Foreman would be a different history
Above is right, George was still shaking off the rust in 88. Saying that, Spinks had had his dodgy knee and wasn't really fighting regularly. I think I'll lean towards a slight Spinks victory on points but at the end he looks like he's dying!
Spinks gets killed. In 1988 Spinks was a broken fighter. His knees were in such bad condition that he didn’t even bother to train for Tyson and just showed up for his very large payday.
I have to agree with this thought. I do agree that Spinks was in decline, but Foreman was rusty, and I think that would be the deciding factor. Spinks by SD in a fight where he gets rocked frequently.
Let’s not get carried away here. Just because Spinks got stopped in one round by an explosively fast super aggressive prime Tyson doesn’t mean anyone else would’ve done anything like that to him. If Spinks fought Foreman in ‘88, most likely Michael would win a decision. Fast hands, fast feet, awkward head movement, great condition. He’d be able to stay away from Foreman and outbox him to a decision.
Spinks wouldn't be nowhere near as terrified of a fat very ring rusty Foreman. He would win an easy decision.
