Who would Champ Leon Spinks be favored over, besides Ali?

I wonder if things would have turned out differently for Spinks if he had n't have been thrust into the spotlight so quickly,and had stayed on the straight and narrow. Say if he'd been brought along more slowly,which would have given him time to refine his skills a bit. He'd never have beaten Larry Holmes,but he MAY have had a 50/50 shot against those such as John Tate and Mike Weaver,circa 1979/80.

 

Leon's best victory, was his Knock-out of #1 WBC Rated, Bernardo Mercado.

But after his Ali II bout, his lawyer had it set up, where he would never have to
fight again, and was set for life if he followed the guide-lines.

But he didn't.

See how important an eduacation is.

 

Too true :good

 

I don't think so. He would've been derailed at any time and just playing the numbers game, once Leon enters the top 10 and starts facing consistent top 10 guys, he won't last. Developed slower or not. He just is not going to string together say 4 straight wins against that level of competition.

I think Tate boxes his ears off and is a horrible match since young Tate actually moved his feet in there. Punched in combos and moved. A big guy would have to be a stationary target for Spinks to capitalize on. But a stationary guy like Cooney blows him out too. Maybe a Dino Dennis and that was a fight I wanted to see back then and I'm not sure if Leon even wins that one.

Weaver fight night be interesting but if Mike can handle those punches early, and he was pretty durable in that 79-83 timeframe, he wins. No way Leon takes the lefthook he drilled Tate with or that right hand that put Coetzee in a heap. Exciting bout though.

It was just such a tightrope act with Leon Spinks and sooner or later he's going to fall off and it won't take long. Just think of the other up and comers from that 76-78 timeframe and I can't see Leon anywhere but at the bottom of the heap; Dokes. Page. Tillis. Cooney. Witherspoon. Thomas. Tate.

More like on the level of a Cobb.

 

In my opinion, one of the saddest careers ever. I think the only way things would've worked for Leon would have been if he'd been brought along slowly at CRUISERWEIGHT (which wasn't even established when he was starting out), and if he'd stayed away from the party life. A sad riches to rags story. And an ugly end to Ali's reign, too.

 

Possibly Ward.

 

leon was never the champ. he was just the first person since 75 who got the right decision vs ali.

 

Neon Leon was 7-0-1 (5) after winning the HW World Title from Ali, WSD15.

He had a draw vs. Scott LeDoux in his 6th pro fight. It was LeDoux's 29th fight. LeDoux would go on to lose a SD to Ron Lyle and draw with Ken Norton... faded versions but give LeDoux credit for dropping Lyle.

The other guys Spinks faced prior to Ali aren't even worth mentioning... at least Marvis Frazier had wins over James Broad and Joe Bugner prior to facing a prime Holmes.

Spinks did fight well vs. a faded and under prepared Ali though. With that said... what he should have done was-

Fight Ken Norton!

Had this fight been made we would have seen Spinks close to the shape he was in vs. Ali the first time... maybe even better! Norton was considered one of the best HWs at that time if not the best (Foreman was retired). He knew the seriousness of a fight vs. Norton... that's why he ducked him... plus the money in a rematch with Ali was huge.

Spinks vs. Norton? Norton, but maybe Spinks could have put up a good fight and lost the title with some dignity?