Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks

February 1978 boxing competition

Date

February 15, 1978

Venue

Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

Title(s) on the line

WBA, WBC, and The Ring undisputed heavyweight championship

Tale of the tape

Boxer	Muhammad Ali	Leon Spinks
Nickname	"The Greatest"	"Neon"
Hometown	Louisville, Kentucky	St. Louis, Missouri
Purse	$3,500,000	$320,000
Pre-fight record	55–2 (37 KO)	6–0–1 (5 KO)
Age	36 years	24 years, 7 months
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	224 lb (102 kg)	197 lb (89 kg)
Style	Orthodox	Orthodox
Recognition	WBA, WBC and The Ring undisputed heavyweight champion

Result

Spinks won by 15th round split decision.

Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks was a professional boxing match contested on February 15, 1978, in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight championship.^[1]

Background

After his unanimous decision victory against Earnie Shavers, Muhammad Ali decided to face 1976 Olympic Gold medalist Leon Spinks, knowing that he would have to face Ken Norton for the fourth time or lose his WBC belt, after the No. 1 ranked Norton beat No. 2 ranked Jimmy Young in a title eliminator in November 1977.^[2]

The fight

Before a sellout crowd of 5,298 that produced a gate of $756,300, The 10–1 underdog Spinks ended up winning two of the scorecards 145–140 and 144–141, while the third was 142–143 giving him a split decision win. Spinks became the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion after only eight professional bouts, and the only man ever to take a world title away from Ali in the ring, as Ali's other losses were either non-title bouts or world title fights where Ali was the challenger.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Aftermath

The bout was named The Ring magazine upset of the year.

The final round (15) was named The Ring magazine round of the year.

Sports Illustrated covered the bout, and with the historic upset put Leon Spinks on the magazine cover. Spinks was later stripped of his WBC heavyweight title on March 18, 1978, for refusing to fight No. 1 contender Norton. Instead, Spinks signed for a rematch with Ali at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. The rematch took place on September 15, 1978, for the World Boxing Association and Lineal Heavyweight Champion titles. Ali regained the title with a unanimous decision over Spinks.

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	CBS

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:^[10]

References

^ "Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks (1st meeting)". BoxRec.com.
^ "Ali-Spinks Winner Must Face Norton". Observer–Reporter. 2 December 1977. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
^ "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
^ "Muhammad Ali meets his match as young Leon Spinks stuns the champ to take heavyweight title". New York Daily News. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
^ Felix Dennis; Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. pp. 254–258.
^ Hugh McIlvanney (1982). McIlvanney on Boxing. Beaufort books. pp. 163–71.
^ Ferdie Pacheco (1992). Muhammad Ali: A View from the Corner. Birch Lane Press. pp. 153–58.
^ Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. pp. 350–60.
^ "One more time to the top". Sports Illustrated. 25 September 1978. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
^ "BoxRec - event". BoxRec.com.

Awards
Preceded by vs. Earnie Shavers	Muhammad Ali' bouts February 15, 1978	Succeeded by Rematch
Preceded by vs. Alfio Righetti	Leon Spinks's bouts February 15, 1978	Succeeded by Rematch
Previous: Jimmy Young W12 George Foreman	The Ring Fight of the Year 1978	Succeeded by Danny Lopez KO15 Mike Ayala
Previous: Jorge Luján KO10 Alfonso Zamora	The Ring Upset of the Year 1978	Next: Vito Antuofermo D15 Marvin Hagler

Muhammad Ali

Fights

Media

Docu films and series	Whicker's World (1967 episode) a.k.a. Cassius Clay (1970) Facing Ali (2009) When Ali Came to Ireland (2012) The Trials of Muhammad Ali (2013) I Am Ali (2014) Icons: The Greatest Person of the 20th Century (2019 episode) What's My Name: Muhammad Ali (2019) Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali (2021) Muhammad Ali (2021 series)