First world title
By 1981,
the WBA made Michael Spinks their number one challenger, and so, on
July 18 of that year, he met WBA light heavyweight champion Eddie
Mustafa Muhammad, once again in Las Vegas. Spinks dropped Mustafa
Muhammad in round 12 and went on to become the WBA light heavyweight
champion with a 15 round decision win. He defended the title once
in '81, beating Vonzell Johnson by a knockout in seven.
1982
began with a knockout victory over Mustafa Wassaja. Spinks had become
a superstar, at least in the boxing world. He began appearing on the
covers of boxing magazines and boxing fans started clamoring for a
unification fight with WBC champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Tragedy
struck his life, however, when in January 1983, his 24 year old wife,
Sandy Massey, died in a car crash, leaving Spinks the single parent
of his two year old daughter Michelle.
Spinks vs Tyson
The fight
between Michael Spinks and Mike Tyson took place in June 1988, with
Tyson knocking Spinks down twice on his way to a first round knockout.
Tyson and Dwight Muhammad Qawi were the only fighters to officially
floor Spinks. It was Spinks' first defeat in the professional ring,
and his last, as he retired following the fight. In the fight he was
badly affected by fear.
Spinks had a record of 31 wins and 0
losses, prior to the fight, with 21 wins by knockout as a professional.
In
addition to his success as a heavyweight, Spinks is generally considered
one of the greatest light heavyweight champions and fighters of all
time. He was the only light heavyweight champion to remain undefeated
in the entire history of the division since its inception in 1903
(until Joe Calzaghe), as well as the only reigning light heavyweight
champion to win the heavyweight title.
The Ring Magazine in 2002
ranked Spinks as the third greatest light heavyweight of all time,
behind Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore, but ahead of Tommy Loughran,
Bob Foster, Harold Johnson, Maxie Rosenbloom and Billy Conn. Furthermore,
Spinks did what no other light heavyweight champion had ever done
up to that point: move up to win the world heavyweight championship,
by decisioning IBF champion Larry Holmes in 1985.
On The Ring
Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time, Spinks was ranked
42nd.
On The Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of
the Last 80 Years, released in 2002, Spinks ranked 41st.
East
Side boxing said in its tribute to Spinks, "Michael Spinks went undefeated
fighting during the deepest era in Light Heavyweight history. And
he beat the real heavyweight champion to win the title, who was also
undefeated. Michael Spinks is the most accomplished light heavyweight
champion in history."
Retirement and later years
Spinks is one
of the few top fighters who left the sport of boxing with both a decent
amount of money and being seemingly unharmed, free of permanent injuries
and never returned to the ring. Aside from a rare event honoring him
and occasionally attending fights, Spinks has largely remained off
the boxing scene and out of the public eye. Ken Hisner reported that,
"In October 2007 he was introduced into the ring at the Legendary
Blue Horizon in Philadelphia. He seemed quite at home in the ring
waving and talking to the fans.