I am from a small town in Manitoba Canada and actually seen the fight live. Las Vegas Hilton Pavilion Feb.15 1978. I an now 75 yrs. old and will never forget.I am looking up at the ticket $96..00 and $4.00 tax. Inn a framed picture with Spinks autograph. Cherish it.
I was honored to meet the greatest Ali in California several times and shook hands with him, was showing signs of being ill but never once he lost his kindness and sense of humor especially with dealing with young children
I was in Secondary School (Form 2 ) when this fight took place. When we learnt that Ali had lost the fight, millions of Kenyans were devastated . Ali was a darling of the world. RIP the great one.
Ali lost the title on purpose because he wanted to be the first heavyweight to win it three times , he said it before the match up with Spinks , how he wanted to win if for a third time , a hand picked opponent .
A later study based on slurring in Ali’s speech suggested he was already suffering from Parkinson’s Disease at the time of this fight. He was in his mid-thirties and was notably out of shape. You can see flashes of his earlier brilliance in this fight but he just wasn’t able to sustain it. Knowing everything we know now, it is astounding that he managed a comeback.
This last comeback better if not happened. He had nothing to prove anymore and these last blows he took from Holmes, Trevor Berbick, Spinks took their toll on his health.
How could a later study based on speech patterns determine a neuro disease from an earlier time? You Ali sycophants are so full of shiat and you cannot even invent good fiction. And you cant fight 10-15 rounds if you're noticeably out of shape. Ali once told Cosell "I was the Kentucky Golden Gloves Champion the National Golden Gloves Champion, The AAU Champion the Pan Am Games Champion the Olympic Champion and then World Champion--I'm always in shape". He was right of course.
Just sitting here watching my friends videos, I admit I know nothing about this fight, but it seems like Mohammad Ali wasn't even trying. He may have been the greatest but he was clearly not ready for this.
He was an old, spent force at this point, forced to carry on fighting by leeches after an easy meal ticket. Angelo Dundee his trainer refused to leave his side despite this because of his love for Ali
*Wow !* I was looking for this fight. Ali-Spinks II has been on RU-vid for a while, and after so long, this shocker has materialized. *Thanks so much* for the upload.
uhhh none of this fighters can put up with Ali in the 60s and early 70s, he'll dance you to your defeat. Ali is past his heydays in these later fights and they can do whatever they like. But in the prime days you put spinx or Holmes or Tyson and they would say let Ali have the gloves. Ali is a hard fighter, his got tremendous internal power. Somebody commented about him as he lay on the bed in 2016 his heart still beats even he was already pronounced dead. Fast and illusive in the ring! He'll dance in and bang! bang! bang! left right combination and out and it's awesome to watch
I will comment on this fight. Thank you for the upload. Much appreciated. I believe Ali is the greatest although Larry Holmes is my favorite. I am responding to this fight mainly because there are many Ali fans who keep blaming Larry Holmes for the Holmes vs. Ali fiasco in 1980. You have some misinformed and emotional fans who have wished death on Holmes and lived their revenge through Tyson who defeated Holmes. In reality, the Holmes vs. Ali fight could have been prevented had Ali defended his title on this date against Larry Holmes instead of Leon Spinks. Holmes was a ranked fighter by Ring from 1976 on and was also considered one of the top prospects. I do not blame Ali for ignoring Holmes at this stage in his career, but at the same time Holmes SHOULD NOT be held accountable because Ali retired 2 years earlier with the Ring and Lineal titles and Ring and Gil Clancy refused to recognize Holmes as the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION until he defeated Ali. So Ali fans who hate Larry Holmes, please look to this fight as to how Holmes vs. Ali 1980 could have been prevented if Ali would have defended his title against Holmes instead of Spinks. Thank you for your time.
I was stationed in Oklahoma with the Air Force when I saw this fight. I had followed Ali since I was 10. I cried like a baby when he lost. I’m now 69 and he is still my hero on so many levels.
It's so hard to believe they're both gone forever. Rest in peace, Ali and Spinks. I was only 13-years-old at the time, but I won't ever forget this fight!
I remember that fight as well , Great Wariors , I also saw Spinks , on the Judge Mathis show and he was so nice , I think he took some Guy to Court for not paying him for a Fight somewhere cause he was still Boxing in some dark corners to get some money cause he was Broke as hell !!
I saw this live on tv. The yood old days before pay per view. The Spinx brothers are the pride of STL. Of course Ali was forever a champion whether he won or lost.
When he defended his title against Henry Cooper in 1966, Ali said that "Somewhere out there, there's a 12-year-old boy who's gonna whup me." I noticed that Spinks fit the description at the time, but his chances looked so slim that I disregarded it.
Ali already had Parkinson's, it is sad to see this, and to wonder who he would have become in later years not having gotten Parkinson's. Ali will go down in history as one of humanity's most influential people.
Round 15 has to be one the most epic rounds in the entire history of boxing! they both fought like the titans they were - people saying Ali was 'out of shape' & this n that - yeah you try and last 15 rounds with Parkinson's, already at an advanced age (for boxing) and against a mutant with superpowers like Spinks & then fight the 15th like he did. That simply isn't possible for someone who's 'out of shape'. It is totally possible for Ali though. This was an incredible display by Spinks! frickin superhuman!
@@ghostdance56not sure if you know this but, when you click on your profile it shows all your recent comments of numerous videos (nice feature RU-vid has added) and every single comment is you just talking smack about Muhammad Ali, using disgusting insults, clearly just take time out your day to be racist, crazy world we live in when we have people like yourself, going out your day to talk bad about someone, maybe you need to check on your mental health? Hopefully you take at look at yourself in the mirror one day and realise, you’re the problem not Muhammad Ali.
@@ghostdance56ma cosa centra che era solo un ragazzo con pochi incontri ,non puoi ragionare in questo modo , quell'amico del messaggio di prima ti stava dicendo una cosa sacrosanta, cioè che non puoi combattere con il morbo di Parkinson che Alî già aveva da un anno e mezzo...e aggiungo io che semmai era lui a non essere umano perché con tutto il morbo ,se fosse stato un altro pugile anche lo stesso Spinks ad averlo, da quel dí che sarebbe crollato per terra ... ciò significa che Alî era talmente più forte di lui e di tutti gli altri di ogni epoca, che senza quella malattia avrebbe vinto contro Spinks dopo 8_9 raund per k.o. ... ma non scherziamo proprio e infatti anche in questo combattimento nonostante il male che avesse, con quel fisico che aveva , c'è mancato poco che vincesse lo stesso .. siate seri per favore , Ali é stato il più forte di tutti, come Maradona per il calcio....unico...e se non avesse avuto quel male avrebbe vinto fino a 40 e passa anni 🥊🥊
I made it 10-5 to Spinks, and I'm aghast how one judge gave it to Ali. Ali let the fight get away for far too long at the beginning and Spinks had far more left than Ali anticipated, but an exellent fight and R.I.P. to two very brave and talented boxers. Ali GOAT!
I remember this fight. It was aired on one of the networks . Back then we only had 4 VHF channels. I can't believe I wanted Spinx to win. Ali had the bad boy image and there were many who wanted him to lose. I learned a completely new respect for Ali soon after this fight.He won the 2nd convincingly.
@@sliczedkaidzo2225 Ali never had any slurred speech in February 1978, Clearly seen at the Press conference that time. It was only at September in 1978 when they had their rematch (which Ali won), that some words of what Ali was saying was sliding. It is very impressive beating Ali for Spinks because he fought only seven fights prior to the Ali match. He was the most inexperienced boxer who beat Ali at that time. And why Ali wasn't throwing any good punches in this fight was because Ali was trying to use the same trick he used to beat George Foreman in 1974. Eventually though, Ali realized it would not work with Leon Spinks, Joe Frazier and Larry Holmes. Everyone saw a defect in his fights between Larry Holmes (1980) and Trevor Berbick (1981). So it was a great win for Leon Spinks.
And Leon weighed all of 197-1/4 pound. Ali sycophants have to call it a great accomplishment for Spinks rather than exposing Ali's many deficiencies in the boxing ring.
@@yuronleywedege Thanks for the newsflash, genius. You Ali sycophants make me laugh. Anything to avoid the fact that Ali got the shiat kicked out of him by a guy with 7 professional fights. Ali was national golden gloves, pan am games aau, and gold medalist 1960.
Ali's style of boxing which entailed him constantly dancing while offloading punches, became much harder to pull off as he aged, and was not possible when he wasn't in peak fitness. You see in some his later fights he see too tired to dance and just tries to tie up his opponent.
The problem was that Ali got his rhythm by moving thats why he never stayed flat footed for more than 3/4 rounds and then went back to dancing, one thing that I like about post exile Ali is that in the early years he could switch between the two mid fight and maintain his rhythm along with some movement
I remember watching this fight 45 years ago. Spinks deserved the victory as he was the aggressor in that fight. One thing you can’t take away from Leon Spinks and that is he was once the Heavyweight Champion of the world!
Other things that can’t be taken away… he was a marine and a dad. Serving our country is noble. Once a marine, always a marine. And losing a son doesn’t mean you aren’t a dad. Speaking of dads, I watched this fight with mine. What a night. What a memory.
U remember cable back then. It was a telephone wire connected to a cable box. It was real hard to loose the rectangle channel control with the red channel on top. But we went to the moon in 69. That shit funny now that you can scrutinize. The video over and over.
I appreciate this boxing history. You can clearly see that Ali at this point is showing signs of Parkinsons and old age. He was either doing this just because he loved to box or he needed the money or maybe a little of both. RIP to both of these Legends
Muhammad Ali sangat pantas menyandang gelar, sebagai petinju sejati, sepanjang pertandingan dgn lawan" nya dia hampir tdk pernah memukul bagian lain dari lawannya kecuali muka.
@@orangy4189 sadly he probably had parkinson’s or at least had brain damage at 29 years old, at least that’s what speech pattern analysts have discovered.
Yeah, both men damn nearly died in Manila that night... Joe was nearly blinded and Ali had serious cognitive, kidney and liver problems! And a huge part of both of them were left behind on that canvas too! Frazier 3 could've been Ali's much deserved swan song, a decisive victory in an incredible trilogy... But he clearly wanted to test himself against the new generation... As Leon said after the fight, "Ali is the greatest, I'm just the latest".
What a fight! Whenever they ask me to watch a good fight of Ali I tell them to see his losses, are all good fights! Every lose of the greatest are good fights, all after his obligatory retirement, before he was invincible
Nice fighter leon and ali as well this was best fight i ever seen. They both have my respect no matter who win but am shocked he beat one of the best boxers muhammad ali. unlucky for ali but he was fighting strong
Para mí forma de ver ademas de más viejo y más pesado Ali ya tenía un principio de Parkison lo noto en su mirada en sus tardíos reflejos ...creo que el Parkison ya estaba dañando su cuerpo y su cerebro ....para mí el mejor de la historia lejos ....una lástima esos tres años y medio de su mejor época que nos perdimos por esa estúpida suspensión
Ali v Spinks was pure entertainment. Nice Spinks won the title. He was like a more talented Marvis Frazier. If he had time to develop as a fighter I think he would have had a stronger career over the long haul. He was basically and undersized HW. However if he had fought for the title after around 24-25 fights he would have had a strong foundation as a fighter, and had a better career over the long-haul. He did well against an aging Ali, but once he was put in there against champions and contenders closer to their primes he was basically getting blown out of there. If he fought them after he had time to develop his career I think he probably would have beat some top guys and maybe even won a title against a champion who was closer to their prime. Glad he won a title though, because he was actually a talented fighter who fought with alot of energy and fun to watch.
i remember watching this live all those years ago...i remember crying afterward...to me it was a whole lot more than the end of an era...i can't put it in to words
Buen combate..por supuesto..que tuvieron ambos campeones..Admito que Mohamad Ali.. no mideó bien la fuerza y el aguante de su adversario boxeador..Y creó con dos puñetazos iba a tumbarlo él en el suelo..Aquí donde fue el erro.. y nadie esperaba éste resultado..fue un calculo erróneo para el campeón Ali.. bonito y justo combate ..
Always thought Ali threw this Fight to become 3time champion, 11 years old at the time of this fight now I'm Much older and I see really he was done Shavers was his finest moments in the ring as Far as we fans are concerned 😟.
It was a combination of being washed up and being out of shape. He could not turn back the clock but he could get into better shape. That is how he won the second fight.
My God, how many shots Ali threw in desperately trying for the ko to win! He would've beaten most heavyweights today just as he was here. RIP Leon. Will never forget this night!
By the way this is from Bob Garret from Quora: Ali has several flaws that would have allowed a few historical and modern heavyweights to beat him. Ali would lay on the ropes and hide behind his gloves. Ali would pull straight back from blooping punches and left hooks, getting nailed hard. Ali lacked an infighting game or body attack, forcing him to clinch repeatedly in many fights. A strict referee would start deducting points. The prime Jack Johnson, who fought Jim Jeffries, would be too skilled and clever for Ali. Johnson was so well conditioned and masterful he never even breathed hard. He wouldn’t give Ali any rest. Jack Dempsey, at 23, with his savage infighting and big left hook would finish Ali. The Joe Louis who fought Max Baer-with the hard, fast, accurate jabs followed by left hooks, right hands, combinations and body shots had too many weapons for Ali. The 1958 version of Sonny Liston was a great fighter. Sonny was in prison for years and just got old. The 1964 Liston-Clay fight was dead even on the judges’ scorecards after 6 rounds-though Liston fought only 3 rounds during the previous 3 years-and none of those rounds went past 2 minutes. Liston was forced to quit with the fight dead even on the scorecards because of a badly torn left biceps and left shoulder. Ali should have been disqualified in the Liston rematch. Ali refused to go to a neutral corner for the entire count. Liston never received a count from referee Joe Walcott-who was busy trying to push Ali to a neutral corner. Liston got up and resumed fighting without a count. That proved Liston, Ali, and referee Walcott ALL thought the fight was still on. Liston did not throw the fight. He would have stayed down until he was counted out if he faked the knockdown like critics claim. Prime Joe Frazier had a quick left hook and caught Ali with a blizzard of them in Madison Square Garden.. Frazier had a short prime.. He suffered from high blood pressure and an enlarged heart, even in 1971 for the 1st Ali fight he won. Larry Holmes was too masterful for Ali with his left jab and defensive genius.
@@sebastianblackfyre Personally, I have never seen a more complete, confident, focused, determined & in-shape Ring General-Boxer than Larry Holmes in his long prime, & the best old-timer. I remember the moment his right uppercut got caught in the second ring rope against Tyson-I felt that was gonna hurt Tyson badly-it was spot-on, & due to getting caught he got ko'd. I was dumbstruck, as that uppercut was perfectly timed & ready to pick Tyson up off the ground. In his prime no Boxer was better than Larry, who was also the smartest Boxer I ever saw. ("Heavyweight," I should've said all along, & top 10 overall greatest, any weight).
@@reallydee8199 What is "thst efty thst"? As for those 3 in their prime-styles make fights. On their very best day I'd go with Fury over the other 2. Fury has proven that he has it ALL. He is truly an enigma & 1 of the best fighters I've ever seen at any weight, & even he being heavy or light himself. The guy amazes me. I've been an avid Boxing fan for over 50 years & have seen them all. And I do mean ALL. The guy fights like a 275 Lb. Roberto Duran. One of a kind for sure. Now, if he's not at his best I would go with Lennox beating him, & Tyson too, at their best. So, my OPINIONS are based on all things even, but it's a very close comparison with a lot of intangibles.
I was a concert truck driver, one night after eating crew catering, I was heading out ,of the coliseum to catch a nap before load out. As I passed torough secreurity, Muhmmed Ali went into the building we passed at security, I was as big as him but I said "you're the greatest.!) He locked eyes with me and said, "I know it!"
stop making excuses for that media hype he got whooped fair and square like the bum that he was he doesn'e belong in the ring with the greats of the 80s and 90s, they would have sent this trash talking clown straight to the morgue
In 1977 I was 9 years old eating at the local chili parlor in Cincinnati Ohio. In walked Ali and his entourage. I about died. He was in town for something with the Cincinnati FOI mosque. Said he eats at the chili parlor every time he was in Cincy. Was the greatest day of my young life. He picked up the tab for everyone eating lunch there in that local dive. I can think of few greater men than Muhammad Ali.
Ali took him lightly and learned a valuable lesson. Spinks came to fight. Ali tried to fight when he knew this wasn't a novelty but his conditioning was poor. On this night, as Spinks said, " He's still the greatest. I'm just the latest. "
@@captainbunghole4190 No quite the opposite. I know so much about boxing I am able to point out the obvious to those who are a bit greener. Ali cemented his greatness by losing to slinks and, with the guaranteed rematch, went down in history as the first man to win the heavyweight championship of the world three times. He already had losses on his record so what did he have to lose by taking his foot off pedal against a young novice that he knew he could beat anytime he wanted. In fact he did exactly that in the rematch. Come on now mr bunghole, let’s be sensible.
A mathematician (Muhammad Ali Clay) vs a full of electrical charge (leopard) in the boxing ring. No leopard, no tiger, no lion, no rhino and no elephant compete a mathematician.
Being a big ali fan growing up watching him fight to see this hurts its very sad to watch a man that will not accept father time has caught up with him plus throw in a round of Parkinson's for good measure its so sad I cant even watch this fight again ..
IN NO WAY WILL I DIMINISH THE VICTORY FOR SPINKS. CONGRATULATIONS TO SPINKS! THAT BEING SAID, THE FACT THAT ALI HAD PARKINSON'S DISEASE WHEN HE STEPPED FOOT INTO THAT RING AND YET INCREDIBLY ALI STILL WENT THE DISTANCE ... THIS TELLS ME THAT ALI WAS A GIANT IN MORE WAYS THAN WE SHALL EVER KNOW!
What a fight! It was much closer that I see the fight again than when I saw it on Superbouts on ESPN 33 years ago. Leon Spinks, with only 8 fights, becomes the Heavyweight Champion of the World by beating the Greatest Muhammad Ali. Leon, won fair and square, even though, Ali wasn't prime here, but still good enough. Spinks fought his ass off. The same I could say about Ali. I think Ali's clowning the first 7 or 8 rounds cost him the fight. He began to take Leon seriously after the 9th round. I had it 145-142 for Spinks. He clearly won the last 3 rounds. Ali was out of sync and out of shape, but somehow he managed to fight until the end like a true warrior he really was. But, nothing can take away what Spinks did on that night of February 15, 1978 in Las Vegas.
I think that Ali only trained half asked for that fight knowing Spinks only had 7 fights! He also knew he could take a punch especially Spinks so he also knew Spinks couldn't hurt him. And get this! He also wanted that rematch knowing he would train harder than he would ever train, beat Spinks and become the only man in heavyweight history to regain the championship 3 times! And he did!
A judge thought Ali won? One of the most one-sided Heavyweight Championship fights without a K.O. ever. Ali was gassed taking off his robe. Waaaaay past his prime...
ATG: lol do your research wha do u expect when u get injected with MPTP tha triggers parkinsons lol do ur research before makin dumb comments the mayo clinic injected him with tha drug henceforth the parkinsons they couldnt assasinate like malcolm x or martin luther king but usa government murdered ALI by taking away his most valuable Skill his speech Power of His words.
The thing people Don’t realize about Ali, is if he really wanted to he would’ve easily won most of his fights! But because he had heart and a passionate love for people and the sport, he didn’t have enough killer instinct to do so. He’d rather make you believe he was unbeatable than to just hit you with his Unseen Phantom Punches lol
Ali showed great heart in this fight. I love you always champ.i don't know how they your managers let you fight when you could already see you were declining.spinks showed great heart also.rip champ
@jamesbrice6619 going into that ring against arguably the best at that time.being sick and old to me shows great heart.there are many detractors of Ali my grandfather was one of his biggest detractors. But if you listen to him speak hewas bright and wise.just for the record I'm Christian. Thank you for commenting
@jasonvoorhees5640 It was the last dozen or so fights that did it. Ferdie Pacheco talked about it. He saw Ali slow down and talk less and mumble more. In the end he left because as a doctor he couldn't endorse him continuing to fight.
Ali, Frazier, and Foreman in their healthy primes were unbeatable apart from when they would face each other! The three greatest HWs and Leon Spinks is easily a top 5 LHW of all time! When Leon was focused, he was too sharp!
At this point, Ali was probably already dealing with Parkinson's. In all likelihood CTE as well ( or whichever comes first). Three brutal Frazier fights, three tough Norton fights, a very tough Shavers fight, which left him barely able to speak, and even the Foreman fight along with age, made him a shell of his former self by this time. He had to resort to a lot of smoke and mirrors to keep the opponent in check.
Well...that smoke and mirrors and shell of his former self came back a few months later and went 15 again with Leon to WIN...I don't think shells of former selves can quite manage that bro. I do concede he was in his decline graph at this point but proved through works and evidence that he still had a few good tanks n soldiers left.
He just outworked Ali. Well earned and 2 of the judges scored it correctly. Doesn't matter what stage Ali was in, he was in to fight so be ready and he was just not as busy and trying to depend on his reputation and not fighting like a hungry fighter. RIP Mr. Spinks...I did get to see this life but it was great to watch it again. Give the man his day in the sun...Mr. Ali had many in his time. May God rest both of them.
Of course it matters. Even that you're right that Spinks was a good fighter and did a good job, but in an earlier stage of Ali's career that would have been a different match. Ali shouldn't have done the fights against Spinks, Holmes and Berbick. Ali was in, but his mind and body weren't anymore. It's sad but true.
I've got Spinks winning the first 9 rounds decisively, Ali winning 10, Spinks 11, 13-15 and the 12th even. Wasn't until 1 punch landed in the 9th that Ali ever seemed to hit Spinks, but Spinks came back with a flurry immediately. Ali clearly could take a punch better than anyone in the history of boxing and his "Rope a Dope" style of covering up and letting folks punch themselves out worked for him, but I can't give him rounds where he stands there taking punches.
Spinks out landed Ali by 165 punches and landed at a 44% clip to Ali's 32%. This fight was a clear win for Spinks. Ali just had a mystical aura about him that often landed him rounds he didn't earn. Same thing happened in the Jimmy Young fight. Ali only landed 27 jabs and was out landed 2 to 1 yet got a lopsided decision.
