Michael Spinks moves up and fights Thomas or Berbick instead

Both are distance fights. The only guy getting stopped is Spinks. But the wear and tear factor of going 24 rounds against Thomas and Berbick would rear its head. Maybe he doesn't get Cooney out of there in the 5th & loses via that cut instead. I'm sure the Spinks legs are worse and his punches could be less precise from those 24 rounds. Despite Spinks never really being asked to absorb a lot of punishment in his career, he was on the downhill slope, at that time.

There were a lot of tough fights for Spinks back then & we just didn't get to see those matchups. I think if he'd have moved back to lh, he'd have had a tough distance fight with Virgil Hill as well. Just too many guys out there that were not going to show Michael doing what he did best.