Boxer who sprung a huge surprise by beating Muhammad Ali before blowing a fortune on drink and drugs
Leon Spinks, who has died aged 67 of cancer, was a classic rags-to-riches boxer who shocked the world in 1978 by becoming world heavyweight champion when he defeated the ageing champion Muhammad Ali in only his eighth fight as a professional. Sadly, Spinks was also a classic example of a star who frittered away a fortune on booze, drugs and partying.
It is perhaps apocryphal, but a story went into fighting legend that, in the week of their world title bout in Las Vegas, Ali was in the hotel elevator about to go for his regular early morning run. The door slid open in reception and ‘“the Greatest’” was confronted by a clearly well-lubricated Spinks returning from a night on the town with a woman on each arm.
