What made Michael Spinks special?

It could be exactly that, along with the fact that he could punch and was a clever and patient boxer, if not exactly textbook in his approach.

 

There was a lot of substance behind his awkward technique. He'd use those thick, tree-trunk legs of his to provide a solid base for his full-torque punches. A lot of his awkwardness is due to the fact that he had such fluid upper-body movement in contrast to his almost leaden lower half, making for a very ugly style indeed, at least upon first viewing. Every punch he threw, though, outside of the casual range-finders, was done with full body, all the way down to his toes, and full leverage. Even his jab.

He'd circle to the left, steadily bobbing back and forth, looking to find the range. When his head came forward, the hands would go up, always moving to create a distraction; when he moved backward, he'd study his opening and then with the next movement forward he'd fire off that shot-gun jab. His head movement, particularly during the jab as he showed in his performance against Qawi, was brilliant. Just a subtle shift off to the left as soon as he fired it off to off-set Qawi's counter jab. It worked damn near every time.

If you watched film of him fron the waist up I doubt he'd look anything less than sensational. It was just those damn legs. But hey, they worked in his advantage in this case.

 

Yeah that's about it(Mcgrains post).he was more than the sum of the parts, and knew how to use his physical advantages and power expertly.

I don't think quite as highly of him as a lot of others do, when it comes to matching up against the great boxer-punchers of the division though.He's better at matadoring the steady aggressive types imo.With his power he would always be "in" any fight however.

 

His awkwardness, power, and speed.He was always prepared for a fight, with the possible exception of Eddie Davis.

 

His awkwardness was his main asset, in my opinion. He was quick and smart in the ring. An all-time great Light Heavyweight Champion.

 

Oh FFS Addie, don't tell me you lost a ****ing avatar bet. The reassuringly regular appearance of Miss. Ryder's countenance in Classic was one of ESB's premier saving graces. Now we have to stare at that big fat ugly lump for how long?!

Also, what a bet to lose! Mayweather was always a lock for that fight...

 

Ellerbe is not fat! He's big-boned! Forget all y'all. Just forget, all y'all! I'm never coming back to ESB again!

 

The Jinx!

 

His awkwardness. It allowed him to land his power at angles that most people have never seen before.

 

Sensational two fisted power, a fine chin, a very very awkward and effective style, great will to win, a much underrated defense, a fine jab that was there in fights when he needed it, good size, excellent stamina and with Eddie Futch he almost always came in with a superbly constructed gameplan when needed.

 

The question was at 175.
The answer is size and the technique to exploit it , just like so many other highly regarded fighters.
The proof of his real quality was tested and answered against Holmes and Cooney which were his best wins. I saw a little of one of his fights against Holmes and could not find (in youtube which is where I checked) his fight against Cooney.