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Leon Spinks remembered Michael Marley pays tribute to Leon Spinks, the fun-loving champion who conquered ‘The Greatest’ MAKING a mockery, an often meanspirited lampoon of his gap-toothed look and mangled speech and even his hair, was a sort of cottage industry for comedians. From Johnny Carson to the brilliant Richard Pryor and far beyond, it was open season on Leon Spinks. Even his 1978 shock victory over Muhammad Ali did not stop the jokes. “Leon was upstairs brushing his tooth” was a typical jest. The fact that he survived and thrived first in the hellhole Pruitt-Igoe housing proj...

Spinks also won the light heavyweight division at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, beating Sixto Soria of Cuba in an upset.

Former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks Jr. has died after battling prostate and other cancers. He was 67. Spinks upset Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title in 1978 after having only seven professional fights under his belt.

Spinks, who lived his later years in Las Vegas, died Friday night, according to a release from a public relations firm. He had been battling prostate and other cancers.

Leon Spinks, who won Olympic gold and then shocked the boxing world by beating Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight title in only his eighth pro fight, has died. He was 67.