Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali II, was a professional boxing match contested on September 15, 1978, in New Orleans for the WBA and Lineal Heavyweight Championships. The fight was estimated to have been watched by a record 2billion viewers worldwide, in some 80 nations.
Background
After his shock win over Ali to become Heavyweight champion, Leon Spinks was stripped of the WBC belt for not facing its number one ranked contender Ken Norton; instead he agreed to a rematch with Ali. Ali entered the rematch as a 2½ to 1 favorite. ABC televised the fight live in the United States. The network paid $5.3 million for the rights. An estimated audience of 90million viewers watched the main event in the United States. The bout drew a 46.7 rating, meaning 46.7 percent of TV sets in the nation were tuned in. The attendance at the Superdome was 63,350 which at the time was the largest indoor attendance ever for a boxing match. The card contained three other world title fights: WBA bantamweight champion Jorge Luján versus future WBC champion Alberto Davila, WBC featherweight champion Danny Lopez vs. Juan Malvarez, and WBA light heavyweight championVíctor Galíndez vs. Mike Rossman.
The fight
Pat Putnam of Sports Illustrated wrote:
The plan was simple. Ali would jab, jab, throw a right and grab. When Spinks came flailing in, Ali would hook his left hand around the back of Spinks' head and pull him into an embrace, effectively limiting Spinks to one or two punches or pulling him off balance. And Ali would dance, baby, dance. He would tie up Spinks and then dance away from him on the break, circling to the right, circling to the left. And the fight went as plotted.
Referee Lucien Joubert took the fifth round away from Ali for holding. The Associated Press scored the fight 12–3 for Ali, while the three judges had the bout 11–4, 10–4–1 and 10–4–1 all in favor of Ali giving him a unanimous decision win.
Aftermath
Ali regained the WBA heavyweight title and avenged his split decision loss to Spinks from seven months prior. He also became the first man to win the World Heavyweight Championship three times. In June 1979, Ali sent an official letter of retirement to the WBA. Promoter Bob Arum said he paid Ali $300,000 to announce his retirement because Ali's reluctance had delayed the scheduling of a fight between John Tate and Gerrie Coetzee for the vacant WBA title. "We knew Muhammad Ali was going to retire", Arum said, "but as long as he delayed, I couldn't make definite plans." However, in October 1980 Ali returned to face WBC Champion Larry Holmes but was stopped by TKO in the 10th round. He then retired for good after a lackluster loss to Trevor Berbick in December 1981, thus making this fight the final win in Ali's career.
Quote
"I congratulated Ali! He is still my idol." – Leon Spinks two weeks after the fight.
