So why'd Michael Spinks retire...?

Perhaps more fighters should follow the example of Spinks, Hagler, Marciano.

Spinks retired at the IDEAL time.

 

if he was an olympian why the hell did he do it for free...

 

To get to the pro's and then make money.

 

His loss to Tyson showed that even if he stayed on the HW scene at some point he'd have to fight Tyson again. Assuming he's taking on top contenders.

Cruiserweight wasnt that attractive and at that point in his career he didnt want to get back down to LHW although I must say a fight with Evander Holyfield at Cruiserweight would have been pretty good. Shame it didnt happen.

 

Evander Holyfield had already moved up to heavyweight, and debuted against James Tillis 3 weeks after Spinks lost to Tyson.

 

Yes, and not to mention, that probably wouldn't have made Spinks the kind of payday that would have made it worth his while. Although Holyfield was a Cruiser champ, he didn't have much market value at the time, and with Spinks just losing to Tyson in 91 seconds, I don't think the public would have paid much to see it.

 

I disagree with the claim that Holyfield didn't have much market value at the time.
He was exciting and popular enough to be considered the next mega-money fight on Tyson's horizon.

Of course, a cruiserweight fight would never have grossed like Tyson-Spinks did, or some later heavyweight fights, but Holyfield was already among the top 5 or 6 most marketable names in boxing at the time (behind only Tyson, SRL, Hearns and Chavez ) by my reckoning.

 

People were relly looking for a Tyson Holyfiled fight in 1991 or so. Before the **** case and all that of couse.

 

How much did he make against holmes, cooney and qawi?

 

Nothing left to prove,he was young, had money,his son.Plus he watched the very rapid slide of his older brother Leon.

 

Totally agree,it was the right time to say goodbye,no future in the Heavy ranks ,the prospect of making weight back down to the LHs,plenty of dough in the bank,why continue?

 

Mike Spinks was his own manager, resulting in him getting a much larger percentage of the profits from his matches than brother Leon. (Something the older Spinks admitted envying his brother when they got paid, back in the day.)

Well into retirement, he continued a very close relationship with his promoter Butch Lewis. (At times, they seemed more like brothers than Mike and Leon, hardly the sort of arrangement retired boxers usually enjoy with Don King or Bob Arum.)

After Mike returned from his triumph in Montreal, he took a regular job, and was chewed out by his boss when he was caught sleeping on it. As a professional, he was exactly that, professional. He stoically accepted the training process, but that tolerance didn't necessarily mean that he was enjoying boxing. It was a means to an end. But the sleeping incident does point to something of a lazy streak. Win or lose, I think Tyson would have always been his last bout. He didn't need anything in the way of money after that, and he wasn't a Larry Holmes (who did do it for money, but also enjoyed schooling Mercer and Beanfart) or a Muhammad Ali (who missed the glory).

His professionalism paid off big time, when he got the call to substitute for an injured Mike Rossman, who was scheduled for a rematch with Ramon Ranquello. It was his second bout in a month, but he always kept himself in good shape, and his impressive win (jabbing Ranquello into a bloody mess) gave him a reputation for responsible behavior and self-discipline which contrasted sharply with the uncontrolled antics of Leon. (And his own eventual conquerer, Tyson. What is it about winning the undisputed heavyweight championship which turns somebody into a nutcase like Neon Leon, Iron Bite and Riddickulous anyways?)

There were rumblings about him coming back a few years after the Tyson loss, but these amonted to no more than the notion of a Marciano comeback against Ingo. Boxing experts agreed that if he were to make such an attempt, it would have to be as a light heavyweight again to be viable.

Nothing can take away the fact that he'd already made history by climbing directly from the LHW Championship (which he'd reunified for the first time since Foster abandoned it) to the top of the heavyweight ranks. He proved for the RJJs, Moorers and Toneys that it was possible to be an excellent heavyweight after moving up from a lower weight class in the modern age. He had nothing left to prove, and nothing else to gain.

 

IMO he had great timing when he retired, just starting to go down hill, but just enough to notice. IMO he knew that he was lucky to get the heavyweight crown, and IMO he knew he was very lucky in the timing when he did so...right before Tyson made it to very, very top, and when Holmes was 3-4 years past his prime. IMO he took his pay days from Holmes, Cooney, and Tyson and ran with them, like others here have stated.

 

hahaha. Spinks lost before the first punch was thrown. Think Ali would be shitting it. I think not LOL.