What is so great about Mike Tyson vs Spinks?

Agreed. Spinks could have been knocked down that night by a slap on the back entering the ring. He was in the a deep ocean without a life preserver with a hungry shark approaching. He knew what was coming.

His performance was horrible, and underscores his lack of punch resistance, courage, and ability to get the respect from a top level heavyweight.

 

Lack of courage?? nah. Spinks was one hell of a gutsy fighter.

I have news for you Doza, many HWs would be Spink'd by that Tyson.

How many rounds did it take for Wlad to dispatch Birdy's ghost??
Spink'd

Look how Wlad ran in fear from Peters
Two of them= Spink'd

 

Yeah he actually did.

Butch Lewis went into Tysons room before the fight to **** him off about something and he saw Tyson punch a hole through the wall.

Lewis had been winding Tyson up for months prior to the fight, before the fight was signed Lewis started the rumours that Tyson was ducking Spinks.

Lewis confirmed it in one of the documentaries, i cant remember which one.

"Chapter - Hello To Robin, Goodbye To Jimmy" (page 185)

On fight night, Robin Givens was among the celebrities at ringside. Inside his dressing room, Mike Tyson was ready. His gloves were on, and he wanted to do damage. Minutes before it was time to enter the arena, while warming up, he threw a right hand at the 3/4 inch thick plasterboard wall, which exploded from the force of his punch. Tysons fist went right through it, leaving a huge, jagged hole. Mike Tyson was indeed ready to do damage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlQ4OzlZ4MQ

Tyson - Fallen Champ 47:17 - Lewis talks about it

 

Well I was there at the time and I did predict Tyson early.....guess that's one I got right.

 

Not vs Tyson He wasn't very courageous.

Spinks used the promoters to take on an older Larry Holmes without beating one heavyweight.

He got a gift decision in their second fight. After that he took on a guy not ranked in the top 30 for an IBF title match who had but 2 knockouts in 28 fights and was already waxed early before. Courage?

After that Spinks fought a washed up and alcoholic Gerry ****ey who but 1 match in the past three years. Courage?

Spinks then cashed out vs Tyson, and folded in 93 seconds. Badly exposed, Spinks quit the game at age 32.

More money was to be made at heavyweight if he fought on, but the cherry picking days were gone.

 

That's a bit harsh and not seeing the forest for the trees. It still took guts to take Holmes on the first time and make history as the first LHW champ to beat a reigning HW champ. Holmes still had his zero and Spinks was moving into uncharted territory and was a huge underdog. Credit to him for getting the job done, particularly considering the size and strength discrepancy.

Your post also makes it seem as if his stellar LHW career had never even happened, and that he was nothing more than a born opportunist who slyly cashed in on boxing politics before making an exit and laughing all the way to the bank. Rather selective memory you have there.

Michael Spinks was the goods.

 

Or some knew Tyson was a destroyer type and Spinks was a blow up heavyweight who cherry picked his way around until a big pay day came.

I do recall very few media people picking Spinks to win. I saw some Tyson KO1 picks.

Was it that hard to see a reply of Liston vs Patterson?

I thought Spinks would be out of there in 3 rounds or less, based on what Tyson was doing to heavyweights. What Spinks did as a light heavy was non-factor here.

You just could not run from a prime Tyson, he was explosive in closing the distance. Spinks had no advantage at all. His jab was not enough to get Mike's respect, and he was too weak and small to tie Tyson up. Standing toe to toe was not an option either.

Even Spinks own manager Butch Lewis knew he was a lamb sent out there to be slaughtered and tried to play with Tyson's mind by delaying the fight to have Tyson's equipment inspected. Lewis later admitted he knew Spinks would lose on an interview.

Tyson had early Ko's over Tubbs, Holmes, and Berbick, all who had proven heavyweight chins.

If there was a re-match between Tyson and Spinks, I'd pick Tyson KO in 2.

 

Not vs Tyson He wasn't very courageous.

Spinks used the promoters to take on an older Larry Holmes without beating one heavyweight.

He got a gift decision in their second fight. After that he took on a guy not ranked in the top 30 for an IBF title match who had but 2 knockouts in 28 fights and was already waxed early before. Courage?

After that Spinks fought a washed up and alcoholic Gerry ****ey who but 1 match in the past three years. Courage?

Spinks then cashed out vs Tyson, and folded in 93 seconds. Badly exposed, Spinks quit the game at age 32.

More money was to be made at heavyweight if he fought on, but the cherry picking days were gone.

Sal, I was talking vs. Tyson and at heavyweight in general. Was he Spinks brave in that fight? I'll stand on what I said.

Spinks was a great light heavyweight ( and had no heart or guts issues there ), but he used promoters to move him, cherry picked fights at heavyweight, might have had a little help with Judges whom the promoters picked, and only took the final risk on a big pay day. After that he cashed out and quit.

Its not like Spinks beat 1 or 2 heavyweight contender before facing Holmes. He did not earn the fight with Holmes. Holmes was slowing down, and almost lost to Carl Williams. The media spotlight on Holmes as he attempted to break Marciano's record I think distracted Holmes a bit too.

 

Yeah it was all hype. Nobody wanted to see it until the hype machine hyped it up. The only two men to beat Larry Holmes, with one of them being all hype.

 

Yes, at that time, Spinks was seen by quite a few as the one guy capable of defeating Tyson. I thought Spinks would be Tyson's toughest test going into the fight. Tyson that night WAS as special as he looked.

 

Did you really think this fight was going to be on the level of Ali-Frazier?
Even in an interview, years later, Tyson didn't think this win was that big of a deal.

 

I didn't expect it to be a great fight.
But Spinks was a bit of an enigma, and both camps had done a good job of building it up, by 'ducking' each other for about a year (but of course that was mostly fabricated).

It's worth noting that Hagler versus Leonard the previous year was expected by almost everyone to be a mismatch too, but turned out not to be, so the boxing world was kind of riding high and coming to 'expect the unexpected' in these Super Fights.
Spinks fit the bill, he was known as a hard fighter to figure, a puzzle.
Also, he was RING magazine and linear champion of the world.

As for how people view the fight now, I think it's fair to say Spinks was a credible opponent, maybe not Tyson's best opponent and maybe not at his best, but it's hard to criticize a 91 second win !

 

For one ,out of touch boxing sports writers like Bert Sugar picked Spinks to win. :hellohi

 

Tyson did want to quit after Spinks. Hr said he wanted to focus on his married life and not end up broke like the other past greats. But he told King, King just laughed.

 

The big thing about this fight.... The hype.