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Michael Spinks
Statistics
Real name Michael Spinks
Nickname(s) Jinx
Rated at Heavyweight
Nationality American
Birth date July 13, 1956 (1956-07-13) (age 51)
Birth place St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 32
Wins 31
Wins by KO 21
Losses 1
Draws 0
No contests 0
Olympic medal record
Men’s Boxing
Gold 1976 Montreal Middleweight

Michael Spinks (born July 13, 1956) a native of St. Louis, Missouri, is a former boxer who was champion in both the light heavyweight and heavyweight division. Heavyweight is a division or weight class, in Boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds (14 st 4 lb/91 kg are considered heavyweights by the major professional The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An Orthodox stance in combat sports such as boxing and karate refers to someone who boxes right-handed as opposed to a left-handed fighter who is referred to as a Southpaw. Boxing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since its introduction to the program at the 1904 Summer The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Montreal, Quebec There were eleven Boxing events at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Missouri ( or) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee Boxing (sometimes also known as English boxing or pugilism) is a Combat sport in which two participants generally of similar weight, In boxing the light heavyweight (above 168 pounds up to 175 pounds division is the weight division between Cruiserweight and Super middleweight. Heavyweight is a division or weight class, in Boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds (14 st 4 lb/91 kg are considered heavyweights by the major professional He now resides in Greenville, Delaware. He was the first light heavyweight champion to capture the heavyweight title. His nickname, Jinx, rhymed with his last name, and his right hand also earned a nickname: The Spinks Jinx. His brother, Leon Spinks, beat Muhammad Ali for the world's Heavyweight championship. Leon Spinks (born July 11 1953 in St Louis Missouri) is a former boxer. Biography Early life Cassius Clay Jr was born on January 17 1942

Spinks had a 93-7 amateur boxing record, with 31 wins by knockout. Boxing (sometimes also known as English boxing or pugilism) is a Combat sport in which two participants generally of similar weight, He won the Gold medal at the Olympic Games of 1976 in Montreal. The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games Montreal, or Montréal in French ( pronounced in French, in English) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec

Contents

Professional career

Spinks then turned professional with a win over Eddie Benson, knocked out in one round on April 17 of 1977 in Las Vegas. Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor. Las Vegas ( Spanish: "The Meadows" is the most populous City in the state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally Spinks began with that, a 31 fight winning streak that would almost extend to the end of his career. After four more wins, Spinks finished '77 with the first fight that began a gradual ascent in opposition quality: an eight round decision over Gary Summerhays, a popular young boxer of the time.

In 1978, Spinks won two fights, including an eight round decision over former world Middleweight title challenger Tom Bethea, in the same undercard where his brother Leon dethroned Ali as world Heavyweight champion in Las Vegas.

1979 saw Spinks get less than three minutes of boxing action inside a ring, with his only fight ending in a first round knockout of Marc Hans, but in 1980, Spinks took his ascent towards the top to another level, when he beat future world Super Middleweight champion Murray Sutherland, David Conteh and fringe contenders Ramon Ronquillo and Alvaro Yaqui Lopez (who challenged for a world title four times). Murray Sutherland (born April 10, 1954 in Edinburgh) was a Scottish boxer in the Super middleweight division Of his five wins that year, three came by knockout, Sutherland and Johnny Wilburn being the only ones who lasted the distance.

By 1981, Spinks was already a top ranked contender, and after beating former and future world Light Heavyweight champion Marvin Johnson by a knockout in four rounds, the WBA made Spinks their number one challenger, and so, on July 18 of that year, he met WBA's Light Heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, once again in Las Vegas. Marvin Johnson (born April 12, 1954 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a former boxer from the United States, who fought The World Boxing Association (WBA is a Boxing organization that sanctions official matches and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level Events 390 BC - Roman - Gaulish Wars Battle of the Allia - a Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (born April 30, 1952 in Brooklyn NY as Edward Lee Gregory) was an American boxer. Spinks dropped Mustafa Muhammad in round 12 and went on to become world Light Heavyweight champion with a 15 round decision win. He defended the title once in '81, beating Vonzell Johnson by a knockout in seven.

After four successful defenses in 1982, including a knockout win in eight in a rematch with Sutherland, Spinks had become a superstar, at least in the boxing world. He began appearing on the covers of boxing magazines and boxing fans started clamoring for a unification fight with WBC world champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi. The World Boxing Council was initially created by 11 countries the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Dwight Muhammad Qawi (born January 5, 1953 in Baltimore Maryland, U Tragedy struck his life, however, when in January of 1983, his girlfriend died in a car crash, leaving Spinks the single parent of his two-year-old daughter.

Meanwhile, the fight all the fans wanted was being asked for by boxing critics and magazine editors, too. On March 18, two months after his girlfriend's death, Spinks and Qawi met in a boxing ring. Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor The fight was broadcast by HBO World Championship Boxing, and, according to the book The Ring: Boxing the 20th Century, Spinks had a very tough moment to overcome before it even started: His daughter asked him, while he was in his dressing room, if her mother would come to watch the fight. HBO World Championship Boxing is a sports television series, premiering in January 1973 that has shown a number of significant boxing events in the last three decades The Ring Boxing the 20th Century ( ISBN 0-7924-5850-8) is a book that was published in 1993 by Ring Magazine editors Steve Farhood and Spinks almost broke into tears, but soon had to recover and get into the ring, where he and Qawi fought to unify the crown. Spinks was floored in round eight, but he got up and won a 15 round majority decision to become the undisputed world Light Heavyweight champion. He defended the title one more time before the end of the year, against Oscar Rivadeneira in Alaska, whom he beat by a ten round knockout. Oscar Rivadeneira was a Peruvian boxer who fought with Michael Spinks in 1983 for the Light Heavyweight championship Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent

Spinks fought only once in 1984, retaining his crown with a twelve-round majority decision over Eddie Davis. Eddie Davis (born in Dillon South Carolina, US on 4 October 1951) was a Professional Light heavyweight boxer He and Qawi were only a couple of weeks away from fighting a rematch in September of that year, but that fight got called off when Qawi was injured during training.

In 1985, Spinks beat David Sears and Jim McDonald, both by knockout, in title defenses, before challenging Larry Holmes for the world's Heavyweight championship in a fight recognized by the IBF. For the politician and activist see Larry Holmes (Marxist. Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949, in Cuthbert Georgia Holmes was trying to tie Rocky Marciano's record of 49-0 as the Heavyweight champion, but it was Spinks who made history that night, winning a fifteen-round unanimous decision and becoming the first world Light Heavyweight champion ever to win the world Heavyweight title. Rocky Marciano ( September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969) born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was the heavyweight champion of the world With this, Michael and Leon had also become the first pair of brothers ever to be world Heavyweight champions.

In 1986, Spinks and Holmes fought a rematch, and had nearly the same result, this time Spinks winning by a 15 round split decision. After that, he retained the world Heavyweight championship once again, by a knockout in four against Steffen Tangstad. Steffen Tangstad (born June 22, 1959) was a Norwegian professional boxer who fought Michael Spinks for the IBF Heavyweight In 1987 he was stripped of the crown by the IBF for refusing to fight their mandatory challenger, Tony Tucker, and accepting a higher offer to fight Gerry Cooney in a non title bout instead. Tony Craig Tucker (born December 27, 1958) was a professional Heavyweight boxer during the 1980s and 1990s Gerry Cooney (born August 4, 1956) is a former boxer from Huntington NY best known for his loss to Larry Holmes in one of the largest Spinks knocked out Cooney in five rounds, and after Mike Tyson had unified the Heavyweight belts, fans started clamoring for a fight between them as many still recognized Spinks as the legitimate champion. The fight took place in June of 1988, with Tyson knocking Spinks down twice on his way to a first round knockout. It would be Spinks' first defeat in the ring, as well as his last as he retired following the fight.

Spinks had a record of 31 wins, 1 loss and 21 wins by knockout as a professional.

On Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, Spinks ranked was 42nd.

On Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years, released in 2002, Spinks ranked 41st. In 2002, Ring Magazine published a list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years in Boxing, as voted by the magazine's writers

Preceded by
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad		 WBA Light Heavyweight Champion
18 July 1981–21 September 1985
Vacates		 Succeeded by
Marvin Johnson
Preceded by
Dwight Muhammad Qawi		 WBC Light Heavyweight Champion
18 March 1983–21 September 1985
Vacates		 Succeeded by
J. B. Williamson
Preceded by
Inaugural Champion		 IBF Light Heavyweight Champion
February 1984–21 September 1985
Vacates		 Succeeded by
Slobodan Kačar
Preceded by
Larry Holmes		 IBF Heavyweight Champion
21 September 1985–19 February 1987
Stripped		 Succeeded by
Tony Tucker

Amateur Highlights

External links

Additional Factoids

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