Leon Spinks, who scored one of boxing’s greatest upsets when he defeated Muhammad Ali to capture the heavyweight championship in February 1978 but lost his crown in a rematch seven months later and never again found glory in the ring, died Friday night in Henderson, Nevada. He was 67.
His death, in a hospital, was announced by his wife, Brenda Glur Spinks, in a statement released by the family’s public relations representatives. Spinks’ family announced in December 2019 that he had been hospitalized for treatment of prostate cancer that had spread to his bladder.
Spinks burst into view when he won the Olympic light-heavyweight gold medal and his brother Michael took gold in the middleweight division at the 1976 Montreal Games.