Was the Tyson fight really that... demoralizing? Did he just want to call it quits anyway after his 11 year career? How much money did he make in his final fight? Was it enough to live for the rest of his life on?
Nothing left to prove, He was a dominant Light Heavyweight Champion. Then went on to Capture the Heavyweight Crown. He could have done nothing but tarnish his image.
For the Tyson-Spinks fight, Tyson got 22 mil and Spinks got 18 mil. At the time it was the largest purse in boxing history. Why did Spinks retire? What else could he hope to accomplish? He obviously couldn't compete in the champion league at HW. He probably didn't see any point to slimming back down to LH, to await a new group of young contenders and CW was an empty division at the time. He would never again have an opportunity to fight for even a fraction of the purse he'd made that night. Nothing more to prove, several million $$ in the bank, still in good physical condition, a motherless child to raise as a single dad...he made the wise choice.
If I remember correctly, Spinks detested fighting, and did it only for the money. I would imagine the Tyson fight was easily enough to live out the rest of his life in luxury.
He got his mega payday and got out of there. He had millions of reasons to be done. Plus, he was already semi-retired even before that fight if you look at his record.
I think ajohnfp has it right; Spinks was by now pretty well off and never liked boxing to begin with. What better time to call it quits? What was he gonna do from there anyway?
i believe what everyone here says...what was the point? .. his resume speaks for itself .. 30 some fights.. with that many scalpes on his record.. what more ? the man got out of there with all his brains intact... gotta admit .. a super fight at cw with holyfield would have been nice!
Spinks actually retired (for a very short time) before the Tyson fight was signed, when negotiations for a "unification" broke down. he was technically brought out of retirement for the tyson fight. It is a shame in some ways that Spinks didnt get to fight Holyfield, it would have been a great fight. It is also a shame that Tyson caught him so clean so early. And when tyson has you in trouble, he generally finishes you off. He may just be the greatest ever, once he gets his man in trouble. At least, in his prime he certainly was. I was one of the silly ones that thought spinks would beat Tyson. I would have loved to see Spinks weather the early storm, and made a fight of it. I think that a prime spinks beats Tyson at any point after the prison break. I also think that Tyson Spinks II would have been a lot closer than anyone else believes. But sadly Spinks' age meant he retired and that was probably the best decision since he had done his homework. It is a shame thought that his legacy is spoiled just because he was caught cold early by arguably the greatest ko puncher ever. It is quite possible that Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, Foreman and even Ali would have went exactly the same way if caught cold like spinks was.
I agree with some of the previous posts. This was a guy who between his championship fights at lightheavyweight, along with his heavyweight paydays against Holmes, Cooney and Tyson, was well off financially, and had more than enough of a legacy to be satisfied with. He was an olympic gold medalist and a champion in two weight classes. Plus, he saw a future in promoting, which he persued. What's more, it was a telltale sign that he was preparing to get his ducks in order when he dodged Tony Tucker and gave up his IBF title in 1987, probably assuming that he would get called out later for a much bigger purse. I don't think Spinks had his goals set to be the next Muhammad Ali. If you ask me, I think he was a great fighter who played his cards right.
yeah ! .. i agree with magoo .. but i mean heck ..he was sort of the ali of lightheavyweight ..i mean he beat EVERYBODY there!!! .. he was champ forever it seemed like.. plus big wins over holmes and cooney at heavyweight... i dont think he spends to many nights up wondering what could have been lol thats for sure
When it comes to well times retirements, Spinks is in the top 10 in boxing history. Beatifully times retirement, and Sal and co above expand on it well.
Well, he'd already won the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles. He'd been there and done that with the light heavyweight division, and had proven himself more than dominant. He had already been heavyweight champion, although his title reign had been lackluster, and there was no chance he was going to beat Tyson in a rematch and regain the title. He was certainly quite well off with the money from his distinguished career and especially the Tyson fight. This would have seemed quite the appropriate time to retire.
It would have been nice to see Spinks fight one more time. Spinks was a great fighter. You don't want to end your career on a 1st round KO loss at age 32. I bet Spinks to this day regrets not fighting one more time. Perhaps not to Tyson, but anyone else.
He won the undisputed light heavyweight belt, won the heavweight title, and there was no more horizons to conquer.And if you don't like to fight to begin with, better to get out then end up tragically damaged like some other fighters we know.
I can't see how it matters, and he prolly had about 18 000 000 reasons not to. Stretching it, but just say he somehow gets permanently damaged.