Leon Spinks challenges Mikey Tyson, both prime.

Tisk tisk to all of you. Tyson stops Leon in a few rounds, but would have been more challenging than most of his 80s opponents imo.

 

Tisk tisk to all of you. Tyson stops Leon in a few rounds, but would have been more challenging than most of his 80s opponents imo.

 

Yeah? like who? Berbick, Thomas, Biggs,Tucker, Holmes, brother spinks, Bruno, Tubbs?

 

There can only be 1 Me. At least I'm not a talking dog.

 

Tyson via destruction.

 

Tyson ko 1

Leon too small and weak defensively to survive most big punchers.

 

Leon spinks at his short lived best would have been a good win for Tyson. He was a good fighter

 

Lol

 

Lol

 

Spinks must have the bravest manager ever to put his charge in with Tyson after Frazier fantasy fight or not

Tyson wins and is walking back to his changing room when spinks wakes up

 

A few, like Tubbs, Bruno, and Biggs. Thomas, Holmes, and Spinks were getting old so I don't think those wins hold a lot of water. However, given that Tyson stopped a peak Berbick, Leon might suffer the same fate.

 

Yow, I really don't think so. The way Leon fought, his size...perhaps if we were talking about him against maybe Jimmy Young or Jerry Quarry he'd have a chance of getting a split decision. Against these big punchers he's doomed.

Mike Tyson wasn't just a harder puncher than Coetzee, he was so much a better fighter overall...Leon would be toast in a couple of rounds.

I find it astonishing to find all these threads about a guy whose major claim to fame was beating an Ali who was about 7 years past it..if not more.

 

Well, I have few thoughts on what u say here.
1) I have to agree that I think most big punchers are trouble for Leon, and I see him getting blown out. However, tbh, if Leon wasn't so ring rusty and hadn't started so fast against Coetzee, he would have licked him honestly in a good fight.
2) Joe Frazier was a monstrous puncher, and I do favor him over Leon. My main reasons for believing Leon could be serious trouble for Joe is cuz Joe always did poorly in the first 3 rounds of a fight (roughly). Leon had a wicked workrate from round 1, and a fast start against Joe Frazier is bad news 4 Frazier, not Leon, as proved by Ali, Quarry, Bonavena, and Ellis. The reason I think Leon would trouble Frazier more early on is cuz he definitely hit harder than Ali and Ellis, probably Bonavena, and maybe even harder than Quarry. Leon could fight at an incredible pace and absorb a lot of good shots. However, Joe was still the better man, so I have going like this:
Leon opens fast, winning the first 3 rounds against Joe. Joe starts coming on in 4, which is even. Joe gradually steps up the pressure from 5 on, but Leon trades evenly w/ Joe up until the double digits. Leon puts up a good but useless rally around 11 or 12, but Joe just keeps hammering away. Because of Leon's great stamina, I have him hanging w/ Joe by a thread to absorb an awful pounding in the last 3 rounds, but Joe wins a clear UD.
3) Ali was clearly past it when he fought Leon, but it was a valuable performance for Spinks who showed unparalled stamina. How far gone Ali was depends on your point of view, but I have always thought that much of Ali's peak was in the 70s (ending in '75). But I must assure you, Ali was awful that night vs. Spinks. One more thing, although Leon didn't have a glorious career, he did look spectacular against Eddie Lopez, Mercado, and Burnett, which is what drives part of the myth of Leon Spinks for me. So my love for Spinks is not soley based off of the defeat of Ali, but mostly just his courage and stamina he displayed in a handful of contests from the last 70s to the early 80s.

 

Sorry it was such a long commentary, but I really tried to keep it as short as possible.