Boxing’s Greats of the States | Missouri: Michael Spinks

Boxers come from every corner of the globe. Sometimes, fighters are products of their environment, favoring styles prevalent in the country or state from which they hail. Various regions of the United States are considered factories for great fighters, though that certainly is not the case with each state. In this weekly Sherdog.com series, the spotlight will shine on the best boxer of all-time from each of the 50 states. Fighters do not necessarily need to be born in a given state to represent it; they simply need to be associated with it.

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Most casual observers remember Michael Spinks as the guy who got obliterated by Mike Tyson in 91 seconds on June 27, 1988. In his heyday, however, the St. Louis native could match or exceed any of his contemporaries, skill for skill. The knockout loss to Tyson was the only blemish on his resume, as Spinks never again entered the ring after his matchup with “Iron Mike.” The 1976 Olympic gold medalist was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and retired with a 32-1 record and 21 KOs.

Spinks ranks among the greatest light heavyweights of all-time, a notch below fighters like Archie Moore, Ezzard Charles and Roy Jones Jr. He was 27-0 before moving to heavyweight. Spinks climbed through the light heavyweight ranks with surprising ease and captured the WBA championship by outpointing Eddie Mustafa Muhammad across 15 rounds in July 1981. He successfully defended the title 10 times, adding the WBC light heavyweight crown to his collection with a decision over Dwight Muhammad Qawi less than two years later.

When Spinks ran out of opponents as a light heavyweight, he moved up in weight. In his first appearance as a heavyweight, he handed the great Larry Holmes his first loss and captured the IBF, The Ring and lineal titles. In doing so, Spinks became the first light heavyweight champion since Tommy Burns in 1908 to accomplish the feat. He went on to defeat Holmes in their rematch and then successfully defended the heavyweight crown twice before his ill-fated encounter with Tyson.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Sonny Liston, Devon Alexander, Corey Spinks, Leon Spinks, Bob Satterfield, Freddie Norwood, Charles Martin