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| Date | 21 September 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Riviera Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | IBF, The Ring and Lineal heavyweight titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spinks defeated Holmes by Unanimous Decision | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Larry Holmes vs. Michael Spinks , billed as History: A September to Remember, was a professional boxing match contested on 21 September 1985, for the IBF, The Ring and Lineal heavyweight championship. [1]
By mid 1985, Larry Holmes had made 19th successful defenses of the Heavyweight championship he won against Ken Norton in June 1978, following Leon Spinks' vacating of WBC title in order to have a rematch against Muhammad Ali. He was also one win away from tying Rocky Marciano's record of 49–0. Meanwhile Michael Spinks had successfully unified the Light Heavyweight division and was looking to move up to Heavyweight. In June 1985 the two of them came to terms to meet in September. [2]
Holmes, who was 6 to 1 favourite entering the bout, had previously beaten Michael's brother Leon in June 1981. No current or former Light Heavyweight champion had ever won the Heavyweight title, despite 13 having attempted to over the years. [3] The last person to hold titles in both divisions was Bob Fitzsimmons who won the Light Heavyweight title nearly seven years after he lost the Heavyweight title to James J. Jeffries.
Veteran trainer Eddie Futch, who had trained both fighters since 1981, opted to sit out the bout rather be in the corner of one or the other of them. As a result Holmes brought back former trainer Richie Giachetti, while Spinks' assistant trainer Nelson Brison led his team. [4]
Despite many boxing experts expecting Spinks to face a near 50 pound weight disparity against the champion, [5] at the weigh-in he came in at 200 pounds, a meer 21½ Ib difference. [6]
During the first two rounds Holmes was able to control the pace using his jab. As the bout went on, Spinks was able to use unpredictable movement to throw flurries of punches from unexpected angles which scored points but never troubled the champion. By the last few rounds, pattern had formed, with Holmes coming forward, loading up, scoring with hard punches but never landing anything that looked like hurting Spinks. Spinks using movement to fight on the back foot, landing the odd flurry, before moving out of range. After 15 rounds, Lawrence Wallace scored it 145–142 while Harold Lederman and Dave Moretti had it 143–142, all three in favour of Spinks, giving him a unanimous decision victory. The Associated Press scored it 144–141 for Holmes while United Press International had it 146–141 for Holmes. [7]
The victory made Spinks the first ever Light Heavyweight champion to win the Heavyweight title, as well as one of the first pair of brothers to hold versions of the heavyweight title. [8]
Speaking in the post fight press conference when asked about missing the chance to tie Rocky Marciano's record Holmes said "I'm 35 fighting young men and Rocky was 25 fighting old men. To be technical, Rocky couldn't carry my jockstrap." The comment would cause some controversy and Holmes subsequently apologized. [9]
In his 1998 autobiography Against The Odds, Holmes would recount that after suffering a pinched nerve in training, a nerve specialist told him that he had a slipped disc in his fifth vertebra and that he might be paralyzed for life any time I threw a punch with a right hand. This would be contradicted by other doctors who said that chance that he would get paralyzed were "practically nil." Nevertheless, Holmes said that the specialist's comments affected his performance, "I found that not only was I flat and listless, I was reluctant to pull the trigger on the right hand." [10]
Confirmed bouts: [11]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Julio Cesar Chavez |  Dwight Pratchett | WBC World Super Featherweight Title | Unanimous decision. |
| Non-TV bouts | |||
| Bernard Benton | Alfonso Ratliff | WBC World Cruiser Title | Unanimous decision. |
| Mitchell Julien | Benjamin Quintero | Super Lightweight (10 rounds) | 4th round KO. |
| Glenn Thomas | Ron Morgan | Super Welterweight (6 rounds) | 1st round TKO. |
| Luciano Solis | Jose Enriquez | Featherweight (6 rounds) | Unanimous decision. |
| James Pritchard | Vince Parker | Heavyweight (4 rounds) | 2nd round TKO. |
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Australia | Nine Network |
 Canada | Superchannel |
| Mexico | Televisa |
 Philippines | MBS 4 |
 United Kingdom | ITV |
| United States | HBO |
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