Leon Spinks Looks to Help Others
Paul Dalrymple
June 18, 2001
BY LACY J. BANKS
Chicago Sun-Times
Leon Spinks is trying to make another comeback.
This time it won't be in the ring. The former heavyweight champion wants to
fight for underdog ex-offenders, poor single mothers and retired boxers down
on their luck.
Spinks and his wife, Betty, who live in west suburban Carol Stream, are
working to organize a foundation that hopes to convey a simple message that
Spinks learned the hard way.
"Don't make the same mistakes I did if you ever get a big break and get on
top," Spinks said. "Don't blow everything like I did. Be smarter than I
was."
It looms as a large task, trying to convince people that Spinks' losses can
be their gain. If he succeeds, it would be his greatest triumph and would
help reverse his negative public image.
Hardly a day passes when Spinks doesn't flash back to the night he shocked
the world. After only seven pro fights, he scored a 15-round, split-decision
upset victory over world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali on Feb. 15, 1978,
in Las Vegas.
Judge Art Lurie awarded the bout to Ali by a point. Judges Lou Tabat and
Harold Buck favored the former Marine and Olympic gold-medal winner.
"I had the world in my hands," Spinks said. "There I was--a poor,
24-year-old black kid from the ghetto of St. Louis standing tall as the
heavyweight champion of the world. I won because I outboxed him. I kept the
pressure on him all night, and referee Mills Lane kept Ali from holding me
too much.
"I cried and thanked God that night. Nobody really gave me a chance of
winning. But I beat the odds. I beat my idol. I proved that all things are
possible when you trust in God and work hard."
"All things" included blowing it all as quickly as he had won it. After two
weeks as champ, he got busted for cocaine possession.
Everything went downhill after that as he continued making headlines for all
the wrong reasons. He later deteriorated into an "opponent," the term for
human punching bags hired to help prospects beef up their records. Even a
couple of big-money fights would not save him.
"I was young and dumb," he said. "I got mixed up with the wrong crowd.
Although I was happy to be champ, I really didn't know what it all meant. I
wasn't prepared to deal with the responsibility of staying on top. I still
wanted my freedom. I had to be Leon. I couldn't stay cooped up."
That may explain why he chose to live in the fast lane most of the summer
rather than train seriously for the Ali rematch, which he lost in a
unanimous 15-round decision on Sept. 15, 1978, before 70,000 at the
Superdome in New Orleans.
According to Butch Lewis, Spinks' first manager, and Bob Arum, his first
promoter, Spinks blew an estimated $20 million in fight purses he earned in
the first nine years of his career before he would file for bankruptcy in
1986 and eventually retire in 1995 after a failed comeback. His final record
is 25 wins, 17 losses and three draws.
Now 47, and subsisting on public appearances, autograph signings and
whatever motivational speaking engagements his agent, the Rev. Rick Guy, can
schedule, Spinks feels he has a message the world needs to hear from a man
who knows what it's like to ride life's rocky roller coaster from rags to
riches and back to rags.
"I trusted the wrong people, and they robbed me before my very eyes," Spinks
said. "I also made my share of mistakes, too. I can't put all the blame on
others. I'm human. I had my problems with drugs and alcohol. But I never was
any kind of a businessman. I was a high school dropout. I trusted other
people to look out for me. They turned out to be the wrong people. I'm not
going to name names because it's not going to get my money back."
Spinks, who lives in a small low-income apartment, is sharing his cautionary
tale with small audiences through occasional media interviews, speeches and
small-group discussions and counseling at places such as Wheaton's Second
Baptist Church, where the Rev. Andre Allen is pastor.
Spinks and his wife hope to turn their fledgling L & B Spinks Foundation
into a well-financed enterprise that will offer a larger, more sophisticated
forum to counsel and help people in need.
"Like many people who followed his fight career, I was impressed by the way
he beat the odds in much the same manner that David did going up against
Goliath," Allen said. "Now he appears to be in a new David role going up
against another Goliath. But Spinks overcame the odds once before. We're
praying he does so again so that he can help more people in need."
Leon's younger brother, Michael, followed in his footsteps and also became
heavyweight champion when he dethroned Larry Holmes in a stunning 15-round
decision Sept. 21, 1985. They were the first brothers to win heavyweight
crowns. But Michael took his job and his life more seriously. He got much
more out of his success before he retired after Mike Tyson knocked him out
in the first round on June 27, 1988.
"Michael is in much better shape because Michael trusted the right people
and he did a better job of training," Leon said. "He went his way and I went
my way, and his way turned out to be better."
According to Arum and Lewis, Leon could have fared better, too, if he had
only listened to them.
"Leon was probably the greatest tragedy that I've ever seen in the fight
game as it pertains to a waste of talent," Arum said. "He was light-years
ahead of Michael as far as boxing talent was concerned. But he lacked
discipline and devotion. He didn't train. He drank, he ran around and he was
as irresponsible as Michael was responsible.
"So today, Michael is set economically for life while Leon is not. But there
is not a mean bone in Leon's body. Some guys are irresponsible and
undisciplined and nasty. But Leon is a nice guy. The only people he's really
hurt has been himself. He's been his own worst enemy."
Added Lewis: "I could have helped Leon make $50 million after the first Ali
fight. These included endorsements, personal appearances and future fights
that started with the Ali rematch, for which he was paid $5.6 million. I had
a $500,000 deal with the U.S. Dairy industry, a $2 million deal with one
insurance company, a $2 million deal with a famous soft drink company--we're
talking Michael Jordan-type stuff.
"But once Leon got busted for cocaine, all those endorsement deals went out
the window. It wasn't that Ali beat him the second time. Leon just lost. He
only trained for 10 days. I got so disgusted with Leon and his antics that I
was cheering for Ali to win his title back. And after Ali won, I quit
managing Leon the next day."
Lewis proceeded to do a perfect job of managing Michael and getting the most
out of his career. Michael's first loss was his last loss, and he earned
around $35 million in fight purses during his 11-year career. Lewis' wise
money-managing made Michael financially secure when he retired with a 31-1
record in 1988.
"Michael hasn't had to throw a punch in 13 years," Lewis said. "He is now a
multimillionaire living comfortably off his interest and doesn't have to
touch his principal."
Meantime, Leon, who still gets occasional financial help from Michael, tells
fans not to feel sorry for him.
"I'm down, but I'm not out," Spinks said. "I'm trying to do things that will
help me make money on my own. I'm just doing the best I can to keep my head
above water.
"I'm still involved in boxing, but mainly because my sons [Tommy, Corey and
Darryl] are involved in it. I talk to them and try to keep them from making
the mistakes I made. It ain't easy because kids don't listen the way they
used to."
KuramaYou
the saddest kinds. I wish Leon Spinks good luck, and I hope he can at least
live in comfortable conditions for the rest of his days.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight...
It's the size of the fight in the dog!
((Uness...it's a big dog with a lot of fight. Than you're screwed))
http://www.thehungersite.com By visiting you can feed the needy for free.