ALI V LEON SPINKS II
JUST when it seemed Ali’s brutal win over Frazier in October 1975 had taken most of the fight out of him, he returned to record a triumph which deserves to rank alongside his very best.
At the age of 36, no longer quite so fleet of foot and teetering in terms of punch resistance, Ali somehow willed himself to rise once more and become the first man in history to win the world heavyweight title three times.
In the aftermath of his fight with Frazier, few had denied Ali the right to undertake an easy world tour, recording wins over the likes of JeanPierre Coopman and Richard Dunne, gutsy men who were hardly fit to hold his punchbag.
In September 1976, things got serious again, as Ali barely scraped an unpopular unanimous decision over Ken Norton, then did the same against Alfredo Evangelista and the fierce-punching Earnie Shavers.
Ali’s performance against Shavers prompted some in his team to insist he retire, but instead Ali pressed ahead with a match against the brash and cocksure 1976 Olympic champion, Spinks.
Spinks had made his professional debut in January 1977, and got into the ring with Ali in Las Vegas just over a year later having had just seven paid bouts. It was supposed to be a mismatch, even for a clearly ailing Ali.
However, Spinks embarrassed Ali, using his speed and youth to out- hustle the champion and rip away his title via a split decision.
Just when it seemed there was nowhere else for a despondent Ali to go, there was time for one more wonder. Spinks granted an immediate rematch, which would take place in New Orleans just seven months later.
Spinks started favourite, but his months of non-stop partying since he won the title started to show. Ali, by contrast, had worked himself back into shape and proceeded to easily out-work Spinks to win the title back once more.
It was a performance that could boast neither the sheer brutality of the Thrilla in Manila, the bouncing genius of his knockout of Cleveland Williams, nor the tactical acumen of the Rumble In The Jungle.
But in the context of his long career and seemingly inexorable decline, Ali’s ability to rise one more time and defeat a fighter who, for all his faults, was a young up-and-comer who had beaten him clearly just seven months earlier was a remarkable feat.
It was one that should have brought a triumphant end to Ali’s boxing career. Instead, sadly, he fought on, stopped by Larry Holmes in October 1980, and also defeated in an appalling bout with Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas the following year.
Spinks kept fighting until 1995. In retirement he fell on hard times, and now works at a McDonald’s restaurant in Nebraska. His son Cory Spinks won the world light-middleweight title in 2003.