Leon Spinks vs Muhammad Ali 2

The man self-annointed as ‘The Greatest ’, Muhammad Ali, regained the world heavyweight championship for the third time by outpointing Leon Spinks over 15 rounds at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans on September 15, 1978. Ali weighed 221 pounds, three fewer than for their first meeting, while Spinks came in at 201. The official attendance was 63,350, then the largest indoor crowd recorded for a boxing match, and the gate approached $6 million. The promotion contained three other world championship contests, but the principal attraction was Ali’s attempt, at 36, to recover the crown from a champion 11 years his junior and making the first defence of his title in only his ninth professional bout. The contest was televised live in the United States by ABC and shown in some 80 countries. Joe Frazier sang the national anthem, while Sylvester Stallone and Liza Minnelli were among the prominent spectators at ringside.

Spinks had taken the championship from Ali by split decision in Las Vegas seven months earlier, using his youth, work-rate and determination to overcome the older man’s periods of inactivity. Ali had trained poorly for that encounter and spent too long resting against the ropes, permitting Spinks to punch at his arms and body before finishing the rounds strongly. There was no such casual preparation for the return. Ali trained for several months, reportedly completing more than 200 rounds of sparring, and arrived leaner and better conditioned. Spinks’ preparations were less settled. His camp was divided among several advisers, and George Benton, the experienced trainer who had helped devise the plan for the first fight, was given only a limited voice in the corner. Before the contest, Spinks’ seconds discovered that they had forgotten his protective cup, water bottles and bucket and were obliged to borrow equipment. The disorder surrounding the champion stood in marked contrast to the single purpose of Ali’s camp.

Ali established his intentions from the opening bell. He remained near the centre of the ring rather than retreating to the ropes, moved steadily in both directions and placed his left jab into Spinks’ face as the champion advanced. Spinks attempted to reproduce the pressure of the first fight, but he followed Ali instead of cutting off the ring and frequently arrived with his feet too close together. Ali would jab, bring over the right hand and then hold before Spinks could begin a sustained attack. At other times he hooked his left arm around the back of the champion’s neck, pulling him off balance and smothering his punches. The work was not quick or particularly damaging, but it was orderly. Spinks was being made to start again after nearly every unsuccessful rush.

The same pattern continued through the early rounds. Ali’s legs were plainly slower than they had been during his first championship reign, yet he retained sufficient movement to keep Spinks turning. The younger man occasionally landed to the body or drove a swinging right into Ali’s side, but he could not hold him in position. When Spinks came forward with his head low, Ali leaned his greater weight upon him and tied up both arms. Referee Lucien Joubert repeatedly separated the fighters and warned Ali for holding. Joubert eventually awarded the fifth round against Ali as a penalty for the offence, informing Angelo Dundee of the ruling after the sixth. Even that sanction did little to alter the direction of the contest, for Spinks had not found a reliable way of reaching Ali without being met by the jab or seized in a clinch.

By the sixth and seventh rounds, Ali was throwing more combinations behind the left hand. His punches did not carry the authority of earlier years, but they were straighter and more visible than Spinks’ wide replies. Spinks continued to advance, sometimes landing a single right or a cuffing hook, only to be turned, held or beaten to the next exchange. At the end of the seventh, Ali performed a brief shuffle as he returned to his corner, an indication that he was comfortable and understood how completely the pace suited him. Across the ring there was confusion. Benton, angered by the arrangement under which several men took turns advising Spinks, had left the corner after the fifth round. The champion repeatedly looked towards his seconds for guidance, but the shouted instructions offered no clear solution.

The middle rounds were untidy but generally one-sided. Ali circled, jabbed and brought the right across whenever Spinks rushed without first preparing his attack. Spinks worked honestly and never ceased pursuing him, but his pressure lacked the bobbing movement and busy jab that had helped him in Las Vegas. He was often reduced to throwing from too far out, and Ali either stepped away or caught him around the shoulders. When Ali stopped moving, Spinks enjoyed brief success against the body, but he was rarely allowed more than one or two blows before the challenger closed the distance and forced another break. Ali’s combinations were not always accurate, and neither man came close to scoring a knockdown, yet Ali controlled where the exchanges occurred and was doing the cleaner work.

Spinks entered the final third of the contest needing to force a substantial change, but the necessary urgency was not accompanied by greater precision. His attacks remained direct and predictable, while Ali refused to spend prolonged periods on the ropes. In the 13th, with the champion badly behind, his corner still called for him to jab to the body rather than demand the concentrated assault required to recover the fight. Spinks continued to chase through the 14th and had a useful moment when he struck Ali with a right and followed with a left to the face, but the older man absorbed the blows and resumed moving. Ali completed the final round in the same practical fashion, circling away from danger, scoring with the jab and holding whenever Spinks reached close quarters. There was no attempt to seek a knockout. Ali’s concern was to finish upright and leave nothing available for the champion to rescue.

The unanimous decision was beyond reasonable dispute. Judge Herman Preis scored the contest 11 rounds to four for Ali, while referee Joubert and judge Ernie Cojoe each returned cards of 10 rounds to four with one even. The Associated Press had Ali a still wider winner by 12 rounds to three. Spinks accepted the result without protest and helped raise Ali’s right arm after the announcement. Ali had not recovered the speed or sustained brilliance of his youth, nor had he hurt Spinks seriously, but he had corrected every important tactical error from their first meeting. He stayed away from the ropes, controlled the distance with his left hand, used his 20-pound weight advantage in the clinches and denied Spinks the prolonged exchanges upon which the champion depended. It was a measured victory achieved through preparation, judgment and economy, and it made Ali the first boxer to win the world heavyweight championship three times.

I’ve always viewed Ali’s second fight with Leon Spinks as a lesson in knowing what you’ve got left. Seven months earlier, Ali had been lazy, underprepared and far too willing to sit on the ropes. Spinks deserved that first victory because he worked harder and wanted it more. This time Ali turned up fit, serious and tactically switched on.

It wasn’t vintage Ali. Anyone claiming otherwise is selling nostalgia. His legs had slowed, his combinations lacked their old snap and much of the contest was ugly. But Ali understood distance better than Spinks understood boxing. He jabbed, moved, landed the right hand and grabbed whenever Leon got close enough to work. The holding was excessive, but it completely destroyed Spinks’ rhythm.

Spinks chased rather than cutting off the ring, and his corner was a shambles. He had the youth and engine, but no clear plan once Ali refused to remain on the ropes. By the middle rounds, the result looked inevitable.

Ali won because he prepared properly and accepted his limitations. It wasn’t greatness at full strength; it was greatness adapting to decline. That takes a different sort of intelligence.