Michael Spinks vs Steffen Tangstad

Michael Spinks retained the International Boxing Federation and recognised world heavyweight championship by stopping Steffen Tangstad, the European champion from Norway, after 58 seconds of the fourth round at the Las Vegas Hilton on September 6, 1986. Tangstad was knocked down once in the third round and twice in the fourth before referee Richard Steele ended the scheduled 15-round contest. Spinks weighed 201 pounds, while Tangstad came in at 214¾, but the challenger’s advantage in weight was more than cancelled by the champion’s greater speed and variety.

Spinks was making the second defence of the championship he had taken from Larry Holmes twelve months earlier. He had defeated Holmes again by split decision in April, after which his management selected Tangstad from the lower reaches of the IBF rankings. The Norwegian had won 24 of 27 contests, held the European title, and defeated the experienced Joe Bugner, but he was largely unknown to the American public. Spinks entered as a 7½-to-1 favourite. A crowd of 5,832 paid $1,109,000, with Spinks receiving a reported purse of $1 million and Tangstad $50,000 in addition to Scandinavian television rights. The challenger was accompanied by several hundred Norwegian supporters, whose flags provided much of the colour around the ring.

Tangstad made a determined beginning. He came forward in the first round, swung hooks with both hands and caught Spinks cleanly on two occasions. His jab also found the target often enough to prevent the champion from taking immediate command. Two judges gave the opening round to the challenger. Spinks, however, was already striking with the quicker left lead and was making Tangstad reach after him. By the closing stages of the round, the Norwegian was replying to Spinks’ jabs with wide hooks, leaving openings through the centre.

The difference in hand speed became pronounced in the second. Spinks increased the frequency of his jab, sometimes throwing it singly and at other times doubling it before moving away at an angle. His method remained awkward in appearance, with sudden shifts of balance and an irregular rhythm, but Tangstad found it difficult to judge when the champion would step in. The challenger’s punches travelled slowly by comparison, and his attempts to force exchanges merely allowed Spinks to reach him first. Tangstad had shown his principal weapons in the opening round without troubling the champion sufficiently, and he began to look uncertain as Spinks raised the pace.

Spinks moved closer in the third and introduced the short left hook. Tangstad could no longer rely upon following the champion from outside, for Spinks was now prepared to meet him at middle distance and beat him to the punch. Late in the round, two jabs lifted the challenger’s guard and a straight right drove him backwards and down in his own corner. Tangstad landed in a sitting position and rose unsteadily, using the top rope to steady himself. He survived the remainder of the round, but his legs had not fully recovered, and his earlier willingness to attack had been replaced by the need to protect himself.

The finish came quickly in the fourth. Spinks caught Tangstad with a left hook at close quarters and put him down for the second time. The challenger rose painfully at eight, his eyes unsteady and his nose bleeding. Steele examined him and permitted the contest to continue, but Spinks was upon him immediately. A looping right followed by another left hook sent Tangstad to the floor once more. Tangstad regained his feet, but he was in no condition to defend himself and indicated that he could not continue. Steele waved the fight over at 58 seconds. There were no fouls and no dispute over the stoppage.

Tangstad conceded afterwards that Spinks had been considerably faster than expected and had proved difficult to read. Although he spoke initially of returning home to defend his European championship, he never boxed again and retired with a final record of 24 victories, two defeats and two draws. The defeat did not make him a poor European champion, but it showed the considerable distance between competent European form and the highest level of the heavyweight division.

Spinks improved his record to 30 victories without defeat and advanced within the heavyweight unification series being televised by HBO. On the same programme, Mike Tyson knocked out former light-heavyweight champion Alfonzo Ratliff in the second round, while Bobby Czyz stopped Slobodan Kacar to win the IBF light-heavyweight championship. Tyson’s progress already pointed towards a future contest with Spinks, although the champion subsequently withdrew from the planned tournament to pursue a more profitable match with Gerry Cooney. Against Tangstad, however, Spinks fulfilled his obligation without difficulty. After conceding a close opening round, he solved the challenger’s straightforward attack, took away his confidence with the jab and finished him as soon as his defence began to break.

Tangstad was one of many European heavyweight titleholders American heavyweight champions used as an easy defence. Against Spinks, he was shown up, as were many previous European challengers, and was at least one level below the top Americans of the time. He was a respectable European champion who had beaten Joe Bugner, but there is a vast difference between operating at that level and facing an unbeaten technician who had already solved Larry Holmes twice.

Tangstad actually started well, throwing hooks and nicking the first round on two cards. Once Spinks established the jab, though, the contest changed completely. Michael’s style looked awkward, but every odd movement served a purpose. He disrupted Tangstad’s feet, made him reach and then beat him through the middle with quicker, straighter punches.

The third-round knockdown showed the difference: two jabs followed by the right hand. Spinks dropped him twice more in the fourth before Richard Steele stopped it at 58 seconds. Tangstad was brave but badly outclassed. This was not one of Spinks’ great victories; it was a routine defence against a limited challenger. What impressed me was how quickly he worked the man out and finished the job.