I remember the fight as a young boy..my dad telling me Ali had lost against a guy who had only 7 fights i think. Questions for you wise (older) owls.. 1.How did the fight come about ? Was there such a lack of contenders or were Ali's camp being selective ? 2.Would it be silly to suggest Ali lost on purpose to give himself the chance (and notoriety) to win the title for the 3rd time ? Spinks record looks poor overall....was he that bad ?
ive always felt Ali lost on purpose just to get a 3rd world title. Much easier to lose to a Spinks and win it back than try and win it off a fraizer or Norton.
Ali really tried to put spinks away in the 10th and rescue the fight at the beginning of the 15th, but on each occassion Spinks fired back, as i recall few people thought Spinks could fight at that Hyper-Speed and Maintain it, against the soft flicking punches of Ali he could, Ali appeared to think that he could use his Guile to beat one of the Next generation before he left the stage ( which was never going to be easy with his love of the Limelight, his Ego and Camp members like with vested interests like Boudini Brown whispering in his ear ) a Rudi Lubbers Outing if you will, But this was not that younger Ali and Spinks was far better than Lubbers, it must also be remembered that in Ali's previous fight he had taken some nasty shots from Earnie Shavers in a fight that showed that the writing was well and truely on the wall, so much so that Camp Member Dr Ferdie Pachecko took Leave and advised Ali to retire, in Short Ali was Bone Tired Mentally and Physically and was just going through the motions, so no deliberate loss, Just a Tired Aging Boxer being Ambushed by a fired up ghetto youngster determined to run that rainbow and cease that croc of gold.
Yeah I don't think there was much of a chance that Ali lost on purpose. People forget that it was a tremendous fight and Ali took a pretty good beating in it and fought hard himself. I think if he was to lose on purpose he'd find an easier way to do it. Spinks wasn't as bad as his record at that the end of his career would lead you to believe, but wasn't good by heavyweight champions standards. He fought a very determined fight against an older Ali and simply out worked and out fought him. Spinks on that night was a valid contender but I wouldn't have bet on him to beat to many other heavyweight champions through history certainly not on there best nights. His career really went downhill from that point on. Drugs to go along with a an all out attacking style with very little defense led him to a career that quickly deteriorated to the point where it became embarrassing.
ferdie, said ali was seroiusly damaged before the shavers fight. kidney damage, motor problems etc, thats why he left ali.
I don't think Ali had much left after Manila. I don't know how he got past Norton. I guess Ali was lucky he was able to bluff enough to keep it close. Norton nor Shavers had the initiative to seize the opportunity like Leon did. He had the balls to set that pace. Everyone else was tip toeing around an old man who had nothing left. I think the first decent chalenger prepared to fight flat out for 15 rounds was going to take Ali's title. Turned out it was Leon.
it was a huge upset, very similar to Hagler - srl. this is what happens tho when you have a shot fighter in front of you once Leon had some live competion in front of him, he found out much like leonard, it was a whole different world out there the contenders at the time were on the way out or of poor quality, Evangelista, Ledoux, John Tate, Weaver. it was as dry as can be
Precisely :good Ali blew a lot of rounds against Spinks just as he did against Ron Lyle three years earlier. When he tried to catch up,he was just too tired to take real advantage. Three years is a long time in a fighter already in his thirtes and unlike the Lyle fight,Muhammad could no longer produce those blazing bursts of speed which enabled him to stop Ron.
muhammad, was seriously brain damaged after manila. just ask ferdie pacheco before the shavers fight, which he pulled out off after seeing his medical records!!
Leon was perfectly trained and unlike every other opponent having Ali on the ropes and throwing hooks, Leon threw uppercuts up between Ali's gloves. In the rematch multiple trainers were brought in for Leon instead of just George Benton and it was a disaster, each yelling at the others and Leon losing all focus and the skill set George gave him in the first bout.
