Thad Spencer

Thaddeus “Babe” Spencer Jr. was an American heavyweight whose speed carried him to the head of the world rankings during the unsettled championship period of the late 1960s. Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on 28 March 1943, he moved with his family to Portland, Oregon, while still an infant and was raised in the city’s Woodlawn district. Spencer stood 5 ft 11 in, boxed from the orthodox stance and completed his professional career with 32 victories, 13 defeats and one draw from 46 contests, scoring 14 knockouts. He was never a world champion, but for a brief period he stood close enough to the heavyweight title for respected judges to regard him as a likely successor to Muhammad Ali.

Spencer came from a family of 12 children and attended Jefferson High School in Portland. He was introduced to boxing at 14 by his cousin Willie Richardson and learned the sport at the Knott Street Community Center, as the gym used by Richardson was reserved for professionals. He began as a middleweight and won Golden Gloves honours in Oregon and Washington, including a Pacific Northwest championship while still in his teens. By the age of 15, he was already being used as a sparring partner by leading heavyweight contender Eddie Machen. Spencer married at 17 and turned professional rather than continue towards a longer amateur career, in part because he wanted to support his young family.

His professional debut took place at the Tacoma Armoury on 3 May 1960, when he stopped Frankie Rowe in the third round of a scheduled four-round contest. Sid Flaherty was his first manager, after which Willie Ketchum took charge of his career, with lawyer Nate Cohen acting as an adviser. Spencer won his first six fights before losing a four-round decision to the experienced Shirley Pembleton at Atlantic City in July 1961. The defeat was an early illustration of the matchmaking common in his career. He was not maintained solely against compliant opposition and was required to learn against men with considerably more experience. He returned to defeat Lou Bailey over ten rounds in Portland and then assembled another useful sequence of victories around California and the Pacific Northwest.

Spencer’s principal advantages were unusually quick hands and agile feet for a heavyweight. He was not a large man by the standards of the division and rarely possessed a physical advantage over leading opponents. His method depended upon changing angles, stepping rapidly into range and throwing several punches before a taller or slower man could organise a reply. His power was respectable rather than exceptional, but the speed of his combinations could produce knockdowns through timing and accumulation. He stopped Jerry Gaines in the second round after flooring him five times and later dropped the rugged Tom McNeeley three times before winning their 1964 contest. Spencer could also box through adversity. In a 1966 victory over Billy Daniels, he survived a fourth-round knockdown and a severe cut caused by an accidental clash of heads.

His progress was not uninterrupted. Spencer lost decisions to Chuck Leslie and Amos Lincoln, but he also defeated both men in return contests. He outpointed Leslie over 12 rounds in January 1966 to win the California heavyweight championship, although Bill McMurray stopped him on cuts eight months later and took the state title. Spencer’s willingness to travel was an important feature of his rise. During the spring of 1966 he went to Manchester and defeated two leading British heavyweights, forcing Jack Bodell to retire after two rounds and outpointing former world-title challenger Brian London over ten. Back in California, he gained a particularly valuable decision over Doug Jones, who had given the young Cassius Clay one of his hardest early contests. A stoppage of Amos Lincoln in June 1967 raised Spencer’s record to 31–5 and secured his position among the leading heavyweights.

The defining opportunity followed after Ali was stripped of the WBA heavyweight championship because of his refusal to enter the United States Army. Spencer was selected for the association’s eight-man elimination tournament and met former champion Ernie Terrell at the Astrodome in Houston on 5 August 1967. Terrell stood 6 ft 6 in and was favoured to control the smaller man with his jab, reach and holding. Spencer instead used rapid movement to cross the distance and struck in combinations before Terrell could settle. He dropped the former champion in the second round and won a wide 12-round decision. The performance placed Spencer at No. 1 in the WBA rankings and No. 2 in The Ring’s ratings. He appeared on the cover of The Ring in November 1967, and former heavyweight champion Joe Louis was among those who selected him to win the tournament.

Spencer met Jerry Quarry in the semi-final at the Oakland Arena on 3 February 1968. He began as the 6–4 favourite, but his preparation became a matter of concern. Ketchum later blamed inadequate training and conditioning for the defeat. Quarry, a compact and intelligent counter-puncher, dropped Spencer in the fourth and tenth rounds and stopped him with only three seconds remaining in the twelfth and final session. The loss removed Spencer from the tournament and marked the beginning of a rapid decline. In his next contest, he travelled to the Royal Albert Hall and was stopped in nine rounds by Leotis Martin. Billy Walker halted him in six at Wembley, and the unbeaten Mac Foster knocked him out in the opening round at Fresno in May 1969. Spencer had entered the Quarry fight with the championship apparently within reach; within 16 months he had suffered four consecutive stoppage defeats.

He continued fighting, but never won again. Spencer drew with Charlie Reno in Seattle in March 1970, then lost decisions to Tony Doyle and Ron Stander and was knocked out in Venezuela by José Luis Garcia. His last appearance came at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium on 7 June 1971, when Doyle defeated him again over ten rounds. Spencer retired at 28 with a record that included victories over Terrell, Jones, London, Bodell, McNeeley, Lincoln, and Daniels. His final statistics do not fully convey the sharp contrast between his rise and decline. He had gone from regional prospect to the world’s leading WBA contender, then lost his remaining ten contests after the Terrell victory, with one draw interrupting the sequence.

Spencer’s difficulties continued after boxing. Accounts from his family and contemporaries described struggles with alcohol and drug addiction during and after his career. In 1975 he survived being shot five times during an incident in a Portland bar, in which he returned fire and killed his attacker in what was reported as self-defence. He was shot again later that year and was also struck by a car. Spencer subsequently addressed his addictions and worked for a period as a boxing promoter. His son Todd Spencer played college football for the University of Southern California and later spent three seasons in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers.

In later years Spencer lived with one of his sons in Vallejo, California. He suffered from dementia and used written notes around the home to assist his memory. He died in his sleep in Vallejo on 13 December 2013, aged 70. Spencer’s historical position rests chiefly upon the Terrell victory and his brief standing as a favourite to become heavyweight champion. He lacked the size and long-term consistency of the division’s foremost men, but at his peak his speed, mobility and fast combinations were sufficient to defeat several recognised contenders and carry him to the final stages of a tournament intended to identify the leading heavyweight in Ali’s absence.