Michael Spinks: The Heavyweight Years

Michael Spinks: The Heavyweight Years

What started with a historic victory in 1985 ended in just 91 seconds three years later. From the stunning upset over Larry Holmes to the night, his entire career ended at the hands of the marauding rampaging Mike Tyson.

Michael Spinks was the 6-1 underdog when he did what so many others had failed to do. The gap between light-heavyweight and heavyweight had proved too wide for many great world light-heavyweight champions. Archie Moore, Bob Foster, and a plethora of others found the heavyweight ranks a bridge too far. Holmes defended his IBF heavyweight title against a challenger that very few expected to give him too much trouble.

But Spinks wasn’t meeting a Rocky Marciano or a Joe Frazier at the peak of their powers. Larry Holmes was 48-0 and chasing history, but the signs of decay had been visible for quite some time. Tim Witherspoon and Carl Williams had some semblance of justification when they protested after coming out at the short end of points decisions to an ageing Holmes. The quest for a mythical status in the sport had left Holmes vulnerable. And crucially, beatable.

“It wasn’t my idea. It was my promoter, Butch Lewis,” Spinks told me a few years ago. Spinks had cleaned out his light-heavyweight division, and when talks of a possible fight with the undisputed middleweight champion of the world Marvelous Marvin Hagler came to nothing, Spinks needed a new challenge. Holmes was 35 and was edging towards retirement as much as he was history the record of Marciano. Ironically, the fight with Spinks in 1985 was thirty years ago to the day since Marciano finished his career by stopping Archie Moore in New York.

For Spinks, it wasn’t only a case of creating his slice of history but avenging the loss his brother Leon had suffered at the hands of Holmes several years earlier. Spinks was given little hope of ending the seven-year-long reign of Larry Holmes. When Spinks weighed just a few ounces shy of two hundred pounds, someone said he looked like a heavyweight, but can he fight like one. The New York Times said of Spinks, ‘Spinks may very well be able to touch his knees with his chin, but Holmes will be trying to make his chin touch the canvas.’

But Holmes wasn’t the Larry Holmes of old. He was just old. The 11,000-strong Las Vegas crowd witnessed an ageing champion struggle to find his range and timing against his smaller challenger. The awkward jittery style of Spinks would frustrate Holmes all night long. The old champion struggled to pull the trigger, and an upset looked likely from very early on. After 15 rounds it was close, but all three judges gave Spinks the nod and Holmes, who was denied equalling the 49-0 record of Marciano, found that fighting time was one battle even he couldn’t win. Holmes claimed he was robbed. He wasn’t, but in the rematch seven months later, he did have a little bit more of a case.

The post-fight ”Rocky couldn’t carry my jockstrap,” comment did little to engage sympathy, and Holmes, who always had a chip on his shoulder, was left an even bitter fighter.

Holmes fought the rematch with anger and looked somewhere near a peak fighter in the early stages. The former champion was more aggressive and hurt Spinks several times, but he couldn’t put the former light-heavyweight champion away. Spinks rallied back as Holmes faded away, but was badly hurt in the 14th round, but again, Spinks survived when Holmes inexplicably let the champion off the hook when he looked to have Spinks on the brink. But after 15 rounds, many thought Holmes had done enough to regain his heavyweight bauble. Joe Cortez agreed, scoring it 144-141 for Holmes. But when Jerry Roth and Frank Brunette scored the fight for Spinks. Holmes retired, at least until he was tempted back to face Mike Tyson, but Spinks who had vacated his world light-heavyweight titles after his initial win over Holmes, had a few more chapters to write in his heavyweight story.

”Steffen Tangstad? Everything he does is totally slow motion.” Al Bernstein

The Norwegian Steffen Tangstad was next for Spinks. Unknown and unheralded Tangstad was given little hope of beating Spinks. And with good reason. After twenty-seven fights, there was little encouragement that Tangstad was anything but a European-level heavyweight. He had just regained the European title he had lost at the hands of Anders Eklund in 4 rounds the previous year by beating John Westgarth via a split decision. A disputed win over Joe Bugner, who was on the comeback trail in 1984 and a draw against James ‘Buster’ Douglas two years earlier, were probably the highlights of his career to date.

Spinks predictable dispatched the former schoolteacher in 4 one-sided rounds. After the third knockdown in their Las Vegas showdown, the referee Richard Steele waved it off, and a former contender was wheeled out of a semi-retirement to face Spinks.

Gerry Cooney had been fighting many demons since his race-fuelled fight with Larry Holmes in 1982, which ended with Cooney losing his unbeaten record and so much more. By 1987, Cooney had only fought three times since his inside-the-distance defeat to Holmes and against opposition that left a lot to be desired. Spinks gave up his IBF title and dropped out of the HBO heavyweight tournament to fight Cooney. It ended up in litigation, Spinks won and ended up with more money for fighting Cooney than staying in the HBO tournament, which would crown an undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. It was a smart business move for Spinks.

Spinks-Cooney struggled at the Box Office, but a sold-out crowd at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City saw Spinks overcame a slow start to dismantle the former world heavyweight challenger in 5 rounds in their 1987 meeting. Cooney was nowhere near the fighter he once was, but Spinks had done enough to convince at least some, that he had some semblance of a chance against Mike Tyson who had blasted his way through the HBO series of fights.

Tyson had picked up all the various alphabet baubles, but Spinks was the last lingering obstacle for true undisputed status. It landed in Atlantic City, a multi-million dollar fight between two undefeated world heavyweight champions. Spinks was without a crown but it was correctly promoted as ”Once and For All.” Eva Shane, Rocky Castellani and John Stewart were needlessly appointed as the judges. Neither needed to bother bringing a pen.

“I want to take his manhood. I want to rip out his heart and show it to him.” Tyson said pre-fight. A statement of intent if there ever was one. Spink’s manager Butch Lewis unwisely decided to play mind games with Tyson by asking for his hands to be rewrapped. It backfired. An angered Tyson decided to punch holes in an innocent wall. Within seconds of the opening bell, Spinks would taste the anger of Tyson also. 22,000 fans saw Tyson at his absolute peak and Spinks found out very quickly he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. One scribe wrote that he wouldn’t have blamed the referee Frank Cappuccino if he had issued a standing eight count even before the fight had begun. You sensed Spinks knew what was coming. In truth, we all did.

The fight lasted only 91 seconds. Spinks who was then 31 was undefeated in thirty-one fights, but it was still in many ways predictable. Tyson was a true heavyweight. Spinks, despite the four wins at the weight, wasn’t.

Spinks wisely never fought again, announcing his retirement one month after his fight with Tyson. Spinks said that he would be that rare commodity, a fighter who stayed retired. He was true to his word.  

“It was an easy decision and one that I never ever thought about going back on.”