How good was Thad Spencer?

Spencer was a good fighter. He was a good body puncher and was very patient, he also had very fast hands and good stamina. His greatest weakness was probably his chin and heart. After Quarry beat him, he never won again. I doubt he could have won the tournament that was held. He beat Terrell, but lost to Leotis Martin and Quarry. He would have beat Mildenberger, but Bonavena and Ellis were too rough for him, and Patterson could go either way. Even if Spencer did nab the title, there were too many better heavies around, and he would have lost it.

 

He had serious out of the ring issues which hampered him for achieving-or at least maintaining for any deceent lenght of time-his undoubted potential.

 

Spencer-Patterson before Thad’s downfall would have been interesting.

 

certainly, I can see it turning out somewhat the way the Terrell fight went. Patterson down early, snaps into action, but probably gets slightly outboxed.

 

honestly, I would have preferred to see Spencer fight Ellis more than anybody else

 

Thad Spencer had a really good year, once, that resulted in a high ranking.

Lionel Butler had two good years in a row, once. Same thing happened to him.

It happens.

For the most part, though, neither were factors in the division other than a brief moment.

 

Muhammad Ali vs Thad Spencer was mentioned as a possibility before Ali's exile in 1967, that would have been a good title bout.

 

I'm still hoping his fight with Leotis Martin turns up online at some point. One of the most famous heavyweight battles to take place on UK soil.

 

Rha al Gooly Gooly thinks Ali ducked him for years.

 

I have read that fight is an absolute gem! Not to much film of Martin is around either but he was known as a big puncher and he certainly laid out Sonny.

 

An early and decisive victory for Cocaine.

 

I've read that Spencer fell victim to his vices. But wasn't he also a promoter on the West Coast for awhile? I'd think you'd have to have it together somewhat to put on boxing shows.

 

I can’t say definitively now, however, he was still apparently Everly entangled with cocaine until 1982. Sounds as if he was pretty chaotic up until then: “After his career in boxing came to an ugly end, Thad Spencer made his living as a pimp and a drug dealer. He shot and killed a man during an argument but was never charged, the incident ruled as self-defense. I was out with scum,” Spencer said. “I’ve gotten in gunfights. I was shot 7 times. A guy shot me with a 44 magnum in the leg and his wife shot me in the back 3 times with a 32. A young girl, she threw me a pistol. I came up, POW.”

 

I've never heard of the cocaine thing, but one common problem that I read contributed to some of losses of Spencer's was his growing confidence would lead him to slug it with big punchers like Jerry Quarry and Mac Foster, and it backfired both times.