Hoho...mythical matchup again,never saw this discussion recently.. Style:The Jinx was a good trapper and solid boxer puncher,Miracle Matt mostly brawls,looks for KO's and slug,but just like in the John Conteh fight,he can box good. Power:easily Saad, Spinks could probably punch but from my knowledge and perspective, he's mostly just a counterpuncher setting traps,while Saad just punches you into oblivion. Speed: Spinks, Saad can box but I don't think much for his speed Chin:draw,in their primes their chins are impossible to crack. Fight IQ/planning: Spinks, Saad could adapt but most of the time he's there just for the fans. Toughness and mentality:maybe Saad on this one,I kind of question the heart of the Jinx from the Tyson fight,I don't remember where it was said nor if this was real,but it was said that Spinks didn't really enjoy boxing(I might be wrong so correct me on this) Overall: Spinks schools Saad,unless if Saad could wear down Spinks over time(which is near impossible to do) and rally him to a stoppage.
Saad was easy to hit and I think Spinks would be taking target practice the entire fight. Saad could punch of course but Spinks height and awkwardness would keep him from taking full brunt of Saad's bombs. I don't see this going well for Saad. Likely a stoppage at some point, maybe around the 10th.
I HATE saying this, as I love Saad. But he'd be ultimately outgunned and pounded. It would be interesting for several rounds, but the end would be a brutal stoppage. 6 or 7 rounds.
Saad pretty much was who he was all the way to the end, so not much to question there. Spinks however is getting the benefit of being seen in his best light here. The Spinks that struggled with strong but clumsy Riverdeneyra and Eddie Davis is going to mow down indestructible Saad? Not in my vision of this fight. Best of Spinks is too sharp for Saad. Not best of Spinks is 50/50 with him and gets pushed really hard to the final bell.
Saad's one of my favorites but he isn't beating someone as careful and craft and outright big as Spinks.
Whenever I think of this hypo, I remember Spinks sitting down w/ Saad during the post-fight after Spinks KO'd Johnson, & Spinks screaming "He keeeeellleeed you!" to Saad over & over.
Sometimes I think Spinks gets overestimated as a technical boxer-puncher, but I do think he's a bad matchup for Saad because of his very awkward rhythm and probably slightly better power that could be suddenly devastating because of the weird angles he threw from, or how he disguised his shots along the ropes. He (and Qawi) came along when the '70s guys were looking seriously shopworn and all the tough fights were rapidly catching up with them. They are really part of a transition into the next era (the one he dominated) rather than truly part of that scene when those fighters were at their best. Personally I don't find his boxing skills impressive in those fights against worn down versions of Johnson or particularly Lopez, it was his power and ability to spring a trap that was great there. I know Johnson went on for a good while after that fight, but he looked consistently worn out doing it. A good win for Spinks considering his own inexperience, but Mustafa took the last of Johnson's prime in that drawn out beating, imo. Spinks technical skills were also not overly impressive against EMM, who was in the process of ruining his career with his lack of dedication and had killed himself just to make weight after the Snipes trainwreck. Spinks didn't take control of that fight until he closed EMM's eye circa 8th/9th. in fact, up until that point in the fight, you know who often looked at least as good technically against a better, sharper version of EMM?....Saad. I agree with Roughhouse. There's a good chance this is a very tough matchup for Spinks and I didn't see him ever display the pure boxing skill to just pile up the points and school a guy with a great jab and top notch, accurate right hand of his own like Saad. Saad's boxing skills were underrated when he avoided getting drawn into a brawl (or had one eventually forced on him in the case of Johnson) and Spinks would not be looking to swarm and brawl like Johnson, or be vulnerable to overcommitting his hand and getting into a protracted war if he gets Saad hurt like Lopez did. This would be a more methodical, technical fight where Saad would get a chance to show his own jab off and he would be competitive in the outside fencing. However, i also think Spink's elite power and trap-setting ability do mean there's a non-negligible chance of Saad's leaky defence getting him suddenly mangled at some point...only unlike against Kates, or when badly hurt in some of his other fights, Spinks has the firepower to keep the hurt on and stop him, or pull away on the cards. I actually think as an outboxer, Spinks might have been better suited to taking on slower heavyweights than other great light-heavy jabbers and technicians...he had enough power, akwardness and range to frustrate and gain respect there that a lot of shorter or slightly less hard hitting fighters didn't...but at 175 I see him more as a light-heavy version of Jose Medel with cruder skills...a formidable trap-setter and puncher with good skills, but he's not one of the better technical boxer-punchers among the near-great/great 175'bers, imo, and I don't think he would have marched through that '70s division without a few losses of his own at some point had he hit his prime in the mid-late '70s. there's also a non-negligible chance Saad can badly hurt Spinks to the point it alters the rest of the fight in this, imo. I just have a feeling that Spinks isn't the sort to get careless if he's the one who inflicts major damage first.
