Leon Spinks (born July 11, 1953 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former American boxer. He had an overall record of 26 wins, 17 losses and 3 draws as a professional, with 14 knockout wins, and is a former World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association heavyweight champion of the world. Prior to becoming a professional, he served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps and fought successfully in the 1976 Olympic Games, winning a gold medal.
Spinks defeated 36-year-old Muhammad Ali for the undisputed heavyweight championship in one of the bigger upsets in boxing. However, he was stripped of the WBC title for fighting Ali in an unapproved rematch, which he lost by a 15-round unanimous decision. Besides being heavyweight champion and a gap-toothed grin (due to losing two and later all four of his front teeth), Spinks became famous for the disaster his career took following his loss to Ali.
Spinks won a bronze medal at the inaugural 1974 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Havana, Cuba. Two years later, he won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, along with his brother Michael Spinks, who won the gold medal as a middleweight. His Olympic teammates included Sugar Ray Leonard, Leo Randolph and Howard Davis Jr.
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