Spinks Brothers Book: One Punch From The Promised Land

Just finished One Punch From The Promised Land, the excellent new biography on Leon and Michael Spinks. It's great to see quality authors choose to write on someone other than Ali or Tyson. This is ultimately a story about serious poverty and how it irrevocably damages some people (Leon), and how others somehow find the fortitude to largely overcome it (Michael). Some great revelations:

Leon was way more destructive and out of control than I ever imagined. The day of the Ali rematch he was drunk. His wife woke him up about an hour before the fight. There were many, many significant fights, in which Leon was out all night beforehand, rolling in drunk during the wee hours.

One of Leon's latter-day managers admits to fixing one of his fights, just to keep some money flowing towards his fighter.

Not once in the book is it mentioned of anyone trying to get Leon to rehab or A.A. (though it's doubtful he'd have ever stuck with it).

Saddest part of the book though, wasn't about Leon. It was when Michael finds out on the phone that most of his money is gone, having been spent by Butch Lewis, this after years of a very trusting, lucrative friendship.

The city of St. Louis never included the Spinks brothers on its "Walk of Fame", only confirming Michael's belief that boxers are not respected by society.

Great read, expertly done. Quotes from Tyson, Qawi, Holmes, Mustafa Muhammad, Cooney, and many others. Check it out.

 

George Benton is the middleweight who walked out during the middle of the Ali rematch.
His team was a mess, totally scattered, didn't even have a protective cup for Leon to wear in the fight...he had to borrow Mike Rossman's. But all through his career Leon showed a knack for eluding his trainers and handlers, and sneaking off....sometimes for days at a time. They would have to literally fly to other cities in search for Leon in other bars. Leon's priority each day was to get ****ed up, as quickly as possible. If people weren't watching him every second, he was immediately in a bar, on a street corner...or worse.

 

Yes, he has dementia. Went in to many many fights without training one bit. Got pounded to the head, damaging what was already a pretty shaky psyche. That fact that he's still alive is amazing.