Do we underate Micheal Spinks?

[JAB5239]

A bit disrespectful to Jones to suggest that more or less all he done in his prime was fight bums for meaningless titles.

As far as fantasy matchups go, Jones beats Spinks, IMO.

I disagree. Jones was a phemonal talent, but Spinks would leave him stretched out at 175. Ramember the Tarver fight? Spinks is 10x better than Antonio and a harder puncher. I know Roy was coming back down from heavy, but he wasn't 10x worse at that point.

[CHEECH]

michael spinks is a legend and all time great. i'll tell u like this, back in the day, marvin johnson and saad muhammad, after beating the crap outta the best of the division, well they then literally beat the crap out of each other for one of the 2 world belts while mike rossman and victor galindez beat the crap out of eachother for the other belt. marvin johnson beat the crap outta galindez for that other belt then got destroyed by eddie mustafa muhammad for that belt. same time mighty dwight pounded the spirit out of saad in 2 fights. spinks beat mustafa muhammad then takes dwight on points and alng the way spinks beats the list of names ray corso gave. spinks is the prevailinchamp of the greatest crew of 175lbcontenders ever. slim never lost at 175. roy jones is phenomenal and if they were to fight in a fantasy its possible spinks cant land the jinx on roy but if he did, he'd make u forget alll about the 2nd tarver n the glencoffe fight. hell jones would forget everything for an hour or so. also, what if spinks jabbed n awkwardly circled jones like he did qawi? what if jones started to reach and ate the jinx cross? well i done told u what wouldhappen. spinx resume at 175 beats jones resume easy. hall? gonzales? erick harding? the only 175 opponent roy ever fought who coulda maybe hung with spinks is tarver.

[Bolo Punch]

I disagree. Jones was a phemonal talent, but Spinks would leave him stretched out at 175. Ramember the Tarver fight? Spinks is 10x better than Antonio and a harder puncher. I know Roy was coming back down from heavy, but he wasn't 10x worse at that point.

At 34 years old, you could've hardly blamed Roy for losing against Tarver because of the fact that he was aging and his style didn't have the makings of one you could have a particularly long career with. Add in the fact that Roy had to lose those 20lbs of muscle, though, and he was never going to be the same again.

As I said, his style just didn't allow to him to lose that split second of a physical speed advantage he held over everyone else and it's showed in every single fight since the move back down from Heavyweight. Even in the first Tarver fight he was getting hit and didn't look good. Roy would've dominated Tarver, had he been in a position to challenge Roy around the turn of the millennium when he was probably at the peak of his powers.

Don't get me wrong, Spinks was fast and he could swat, but his speed (hand or foot) just wasn't on the same level as a prime Roy Jones. I'm not sure he was as mentally sharp either. Roy could box and move and hit Michael at angles that he didn't even know existed.

[CHEECH]

i belive roy was past his prime against tarver but i'm not so sure he wouldnt have had trouble with tarver even if jones was in his prime. the other lightheavys jones fought were a mediocre bunch, none of which was anywhere close to spinks. so of course jones had speed n reflexes like nothing spinks ever faced but roy never fought a guy like spinks until tarver who flattened him tho we'll never know if jones was just getting old or if tarver had the speed n power to get him unlike all the other lightheavys jones faced. ill put it like this, on an all timer list of 175lb fghters, spinks rates highter than jones. on an all timer list of p4p legends, jones rates higher

[elfag]

Great Post and Topic!!! I have always said that Michael Spinks is one of the Most Underrated "ATG Champions" in Boxing History!! Spinks as an Olympian and Amateur was Greatness as well as his Professional career. The funny thing is, after the Olympics when his brother Leon Spinks beat Ali, their Manager Butch Lewis forgot all about Michael.....and Michael was working a regular job, wasn't even a priority to Butch Lewis..That is how Michael ruined his knees, from working and kneeling , cleaning with chemicals etc...before he even started as a Pro his knees were shot.

Eventually after the Leon celebrations were coming to a halt, Butch Lewis gave Michael a call, and asked him to come back to Boxing and he did so in "Great Fashion"!! Michael faced every great Light Heavy that there was to fight, and beat em all. The Powerful and Mean Dwight Qwai included in the list of Michael's Victims....Michael was so great that he went on a fought Dwight Qwai upon receiving the news that his wife was killed in an auto accident, and his baby daughter was brought to his dressing room prior to the Qwai Fight, and Michael went on with the Fight, amazingly kept his focus, and disposed of the Mighty Qwai!! Just like Marciano, Spinks also was a True Undefeated World Champion, no Mickey Mouse Belt Champion.

When Michael moved up to Heavyweight to face Larry Holmes for the World Heavyweight Title, Battle of Undefeateds , I remember that Michael was Training with at the Time what was a skeptical Regimine of both his Physical and Nutrition Program. He instead of eating fatty foods to come up in weight, he used Complex Carbos, and Grains, Fresh and Dried Fruits, Nuts, Legumes, and Juicing which was very revolutionary at the time...WheatGrass Juice, and many others which are Miracle Cures Today for cancer and many other ailments....Michael was training with High Intensity Workouts, rather than the customary slow long jogs that Larry, and all other Fighters have done throughout history. Michael was using Wind Sprints, as well a Distance Running, but at way higher and faster rates than one would do for Boxing. Even his Gym training was High Intensity. I was running Marathons, and Triathalons at the time, and I was well aware of both the Nutrition and the Training, as I was doing the same. And I was already Juicing when I was in a Dr.'s office reading all about Spinks' new Techniques and the Personal Trainer and Personal Nutritionalist, that monitored all of this aside from His Boxing Trainers. Michael was in incredible shape, and all of this worked to his favor amazingly.

Nowdays when I speak with so many Boxing Friends, that I boxed with, and got to know through Boxing, and now on faceBook, have come to know so many more, it's amazing how those that really know Boxing, as Fighters, Trainers, Writers, Referees, Boxing Writers and Historians for many years that I have come to know, we all saw the same thing. I trained and knew Michael just prior to this sudden change in technique, as I too was from the Philly Boxing Gyms...I trained at Willie Reddish Gym with Curtis Parker throughout the 1980's, and went to so many other Philly and outside area Gyms...Steve Traitz Gym, where he trained Briscoe, Saad Muhammad, and so many other Greats, James Shuler, Willie Harris....

Michael Spinks was like "Lightningf" when he fought Holmes. Holmes had already gotten several "Gift" Decisions, like Norton Fight, and Witherspoon, Truth Williams....but not this Fight. as Ice John Scully and others I speak to say, Spinks fought a "Perfect Fight" in the Holmes Fight. Michael had a strategy that with his training and preparation worked perfectly for him. He would pound Holmes with combinations, then seem to disappear...Holmes could not hit him, or fins him, and Spinks was in such Great Shape that he was able to do that All Night Long!! He fought differently than usual, and it Paid Off Big Time....Larry couldn't hit him at all. That Fight wasn't even close, it was Perfectly Executed, and I knew it, I predicted Spinks would win before the Fight, but I didn't know that he would change his Style as he did, and "Bam Bam Bam" Hit with Fast Combinations, then get outta there, leaving Holmes perplexed and looking like an Amateur. All paid off, and now the Very Techniques that Spinks brought forth and all were skeptical of, are CommonPlace Today in Boxing Gyms, and Trainers all over the World!! Congratulations to True ATG Champion of History, along with Ezzard Charles, Michael Spinks!!!

yeah larry holmes was a world class ****head and jealous of everyone but atleast he wasnt fake.

[Bolo Punch]

i belive roy was past his prime against tarver but i'm not so sure he wouldnt have had trouble with tarver even if jones was in his prime. the other lightheavys jones fought were a mediocre bunch, none of which was anywhere close to spinks. so of course jones had speed n reflexes like nothing spinks ever faced but roy never fought a guy like spinks until tarver who flattened him tho we'll never know if jones was just getting old or if tarver had the speed n power to get him unlike all the other lightheavys jones faced. ill put it like this, on an all timer list of 175lb fghters, spinks rates highter than jones. on an all timer list of p4p legends, jones rates higher

A good post. I think anyone would have a hard job disagreeing with that.

[Anthony342]

Yeah Spinks definitely all-time great light heavy and even pretty good heavyweight. Prime for prime, head to head Jones probably edges out a decision, but Spinks still has the better resume, but it wasn't exactly a great light heavy era when Jones was prime there, was it? I mean, who didn't he fight at that weight besides Tarver sooner and Michaelczewski. And the light heavys are usually ranked Charles, then usually Moore, followed somewhere top 5 or 10 by Spinks and then Jones and there's no shame in that, considering the greats that have competed in the weight class and the long, rich, championship history at light heavy.

[katjack]

Spinks power was underrated in my opinion.

I also think he would dominate any lightheavies today.

[SBleeder]

He fluctuates between #5 and #6 on my list of LHWs. Considering that 175 is one of the deepest divisions in history, that makes him a legend in my book.

[LacedUp]

I've always though his resume was good. He beat the best fighters in a very good light heavyweight era and beat the undefeated, lineal heavyweight champion and ATG.

His resume at 175 is probably top 3 of all times. He didn't really beat Holmes imo, it was a robbery, especially the 2nd fight. Then he got KOd brutally.

But he's definitely and atg LHW.