One Punch from the Promised Land: Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, And The Myth Of The Heavyweight Title

A while back, I purchased a book called "Rocky Lives: Heavyweight Upsets of the 90s" which was chronologically ordered by year (starting in 1990 and ending in 1999) and detailed some of the most shocking underdog victories of that era. One of the shock wins listed for '94 was John Carlo's TKO1 victory over former world heavyweight champ Leon Spinks. Insight was provided into just what a devastating downward spiral Leon went on during the twilight of his career, but I wanted to learn more about the Carlo bout (seeing as how it was not only the only stoppage loss of his second ['91-'95] comeback, but it came against a fighter with no pro experience [despite a fabricated record of 11-2 created by Carlo's handlers in order to get the fight sanctioned]). Searching for it on Google led to my discovery of the existence of THIS book, parts of which could be read for free on Google Books. After reading portions of the section which went into detail on his second comeback, I was hugely impressed with just how much effort went into making it as enlightening as possible. Selecting and reading other sections at random only increased the extent to which I was impressed with the quality of Mr. Florio and Mrs. Shapiro's storytelling styles--they paid just as much attention and put just as much love into everything leading up to that point. Indeed, less than a week after previewing several of the book's pages on Google Books, I purchased it from this very website. Needless to say, this is probably one of the most informative/insightful/interesting books I've ever read in my life, and one that I would recommend not only to boxing enthusiasts but to anyone who enjoys high-quality writing in general. I had always found the Spinks brothers intriguing figures in the annals of boxing history but could never find a whole lot about them. This book represents the greatest effort I've ever seen anyone make towards telling the story of their respective careers as accurately and figuratively as possible, and it helped my respect for Leon and Michael to increase a thousandfold compared to the level at which it was prior to reading it. Though many great heavyweight champions managed to escape poverty and punch their way out of rags into immense riches, Leon and Michael were perhaps history's greatest long-shots (apart from James "Buster" Douglas and Hasim Rahman) to get their names in the family tree whose branches supported the champs that they looked up to, which makes their career accomplishments all the more incredible. It's an injustice to both men that they are remembered more immediately and frequently for their losses than their victories. A 91-second knockout loss to Mike Tyson has caused many people to forget that Michael was not only the first light-heavyweight champion to leave the division as an unbeaten champ (with huge wins over Marvin Johnson [KO4], Eddie Mustafa Muhammad [UD15], and Dwight Muhammad Qawi [UD15] to boot)--though Michael Moorer would later join him as the second in 1991, he was merely the WBO champ (at a time when the WBO was not recognized as one of the major world governing bodies) whereas Spinks held the lineal championship at the time of his leave--but also the first to successfully dethrone the undisputed world heavyweight champion (though Tony Tubbs held the WBA belt and Pinklon Thomas was recognized as champion by the WBC, Holmes had universal recognition as the legitimate champion which stemmed back to a brutal ten-round drubbing in October 1980 of Muhammad Ali, a terrible beating which stripped Ali of his only remaining claim to the HW crown). Likewise, poor training habits, overindulgence in the 'good' life, and an abundance of humiliating losses near the end of his career to journeymen who seemed over-matched on paper tend to cause people to forget that there was a time when Leon was regarded as one of the better heavyweights in the world, and rightly so (though his win over Ali is the most commonly cited example for obvious reasons, overlooked wins over Alfio Righetti, Alfredo Evangelista, and Bernardo Mercado also serve as testaments to Leon's immense natural talent). It would be difficult, if not next to impossible, to make anyone forget about how it took Mike Tyson less than two minutes to change the '0' in Michael's 31-0 record to a '1' or how a TKO6 loss to Rocky Sekorski (the first time Leon had ever been beaten by an opponent that was not a current or former world champion) sent Leon on the fast track to journeyman status, a demotion that the fallen champ never recovered from. However, it's my sincere hope that those who read this book will start to remember the Spinks brothers not for the heartbreaking moments of their respective careers but for how they believed in themselves when very few people gave them even a remote chance of winning, shocked the world by emerging victorious over two of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, and made all the critics eat their words. Not bad for a couple of kids from Pruitt-Igoe!

5-star rating, easily! The topic itself was fascinating and the writing was just masterful - clear, detailed, fly-on-the-wall style. One of the most satisfying books I’ve read in years. RECOMMENDED.

A fascinating behind the scenes look at what it was like growing up in inner city St. Louis and the obstacles that both brother's overcame to make it to the pinnacle of their chosen sport. Despite their success the brother's took markedly different paths to get there. Leon is described as a TRAIN WRECK who squandered his raw talent and ability, yet despite that shocked the world by defeating his IDOL Muhammad Ali. Michael was more disciplined and worked hard to achieve all he did. All in all a compelling story. I always enjoyed watching both brother's fight and particularly recall their Olympic achievements. If you like Boxing history from the 70's & 80's you'll enjoy this book.

The current state of boxing sucks today!Without a doubt the golden age of boxing was back in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. Back then you had Duran, Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, Benitez, Arguello, Mancini, Holmes, Ali, Shavers, Pryor, Red Lopez, Tyson...the list goes on and on on.And they had no problems squaring off against the toughest guys in their weight class or other divisions. Going up in weight, going down in weight for just two belts then - WBC or WBA (the IBF and WBO would pop up when the sport began to decline). A good share of the time the fights were on ABC, CBS, and NBC on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon for free. If it was a huge night such as Larry Holmes against the Acorn - Earnie Shavers with Duran and Leonard on under-card bouts, it would be on a prime-time Friday night. It was great! Everybody knew who the champ was back in those days.But let me warn you that if you think that Floyd Mayweather is an all time great then this book is definitely not for you. For God's sake, Mayweather has been ducking a undersized Filipino fighter for years who started off as flyweight! His reasoning being that devilish Manny is on the juice and in the process passing up on a 30 million dollar payday. Spare me! Tommy Hearns would have dropped two weight classes and smoked Pacquiao in one round for a quarter of that purse!But if you're fan of that era in boxing that ran from the 70s to the 90s, then this is the book you definitely want to check out. This one of the best books on boxing in years. And in many ways it is also a very sad book.This book centers around the Spinks brothers from their horrible childhood in the crime and drug ridden Pruitt-Igoe projects in St. Louis to the start of their amateur careers which led to Olympic glory and eventually on to winning the heavyweight belt. On two very different paths.A fun loving, booze and cocaine fueled Leon would upset an out of shape Ali in only his 8th pro bout and the party never ended after that. Leon would drink, snort, and whore his way to a loss to Ali in the rematch and then immediately it would seem free fall to journeyman status and finish up with a final record of 26 wins, 17 losses, and 3 draws. And flat broke! Leon would actually lose his last fight to a fighter who had not fought in over 16 years. After venturing into low end martial arts and pro wrestling shows it was last reported that Leon was living in some backwater town in Nebraska.After taking a time out to babysit Leon at the start of his career, Michael began his professional career and would not only win the light-heavyweight strap but would go on to upset the unbeaten Larry Holmes for heavyweight honors and eventually take on Iron Mike Tyson in of the biggest fights in history only to get destroyed in 91 seconds. Unlike his brother, he avoided the limelight, saved his money, and retired quite comfortably. That is until his longtime manager, Butch Lewis died, and it was discovered that he had ripped off Michael for an estimated 24 millions dollars.The authors did a ton of research and interviews with dozens if not hundreds of boxing insiders for this book - and it shows. It not only delves deeply in the Spinks brothers careers but also in the other fighters of that era and explores the back alley dealings and borderline criminal activity that has always been associated with boxing. Even if you are a huge fan of boxing you'll read stuff here that you never heard or read before.

I initially did not expect much from this book, but once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. The amount of research, coupled with numerous interviews of boxing luminaries, as well as obscure but equally important players in the Spinks saga, make it very compelling. Anyone recall an early ultimate fighter named "Bad" Brad Hefton? He even makes an appearance in the book. There is also a great documentary film called "The Pruitt-Igoe Myth" about the projects where the Spinks brothers grew up. Watch the trailer on IMDB.com and it will give you a riveting look at the world inhabited by the brothers. That environment is also profiled very well in chapter one. THis is a fantastic read from beginning to end, especially for us lucky ones who were boxing fans during the last true golden age of the sport. If you think you knew all there is to know about the brothers, think again.

As a avid boxing fan, this is an absolutely fantastic read, from thier lives living in a project, thier Olympic golds and there ups and downs as professionals . This book covers it all, i couldnt put it down, its up there with the best boxing books I've ever read.If your interested in the 1970's & 1980s boxing scene you should definitely buy this

I have followed boxing for some considerable years , and read a lot of books .Over the years i have only picked up a small amount , on the lives of the Spinks brothers , but here you learn a in depth knowledge , and i highly recommend this book .

All good.

Big boxing fan, never knew their backstory. This was tipped as a good book by Steve Bunce. He's right, it really is an incredible story. Very well written and engaging. Would recommend to any boxing fan, hard to put this book down.

This book not only charts the brothers boxing career but also goes into unbiased details of their private lives. The terrible poverty and hardship of their childhood to the multi million dollar fights they both had and how they both ended up on opposite directions of the American dream. Not cheap as no used copies are available but would make a nice gift for a boxing enthusiast