January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

considered great beating a slew of inexperienced amateurs defies intelligent
reasoning. Yet this same fighter beat Ali 10-0 in rounds and made him quit on
his stool. Leon Spinks (26-17). The worse heavyweight champion ever. He
only won the title because he beat an over-rated Muhammad Ali. This bum Spinks
had only 7 pro fights at the time and DIDN’T WIN all of those. Spinks was such a
huge underdog that Las Vegas bookies would not give odds on the fight. Yet he
gave Ali an ass whipping. He swarmed over him and gave him no room to breathe
and won easily proving Ali was not close to “The Greatest.” Ali couldn’t deal
with real pressure from a fighter who was not fit to be on Joe Louis “bum of the
month club.” Spinks was knocked out 9 times in his career more than either
Charles or Walcott and he had half as many fights. He was even knocked out by
some guy named John Carlo in one round who was in his pro debut. Yet Ali could
not put this hapless china chinned chump down in 30 rounds of fighting in 2
fights? There is more to the story. Some will no doubt try to say Ali
was old, but he had just turned 36 the month before. To get more perspective on
the age issue, consider that at 36 years of age, Larry Holmes stopped David Bey
(6’3”, 233 lbs), and defeated Carl Williams (6’4”, 215 lbs), in back-to-back
fights. (Note this is quoting Revolver and he is error Holmes was born in ‘49
both fights were before his birthday in Nov. of ‘85 so he was 35. Math, along
with other subjects such as logic, must not one be of Revolver’s strong points)
And just shy of his 38th birthday, Lennox Lewis as mentioned previously, beat
Vitaly Klitschko (6’7” 248 lbs) who was the number one rated contender. It was
Lewis’ third fight since turning 36. His two previous opponents were Hasim
Rahman (236 lbs, 35-2) and Mike Tyson (234 lbs, 49-3). He won both of those
fights by knockout. But Ali could not defeat an amateur opponent who weighed
less than 200 pounds and had only 7 pro fights and not all of those were wins?
Losing to a green kid like Spinks proves how truly over-rated and over-hyped
Muhammad Ali is to this day. Spinks who at 6”1 ½” and a 76” reach beat
Ali with a simple plan. Spinks used aggression, jabs and pressure to force Ali
to the corners and outwork him. The NY Times reported, “Ali danced and jabbed,
danced and jabbed and took Spinks shots in an apparent effort to let the St.
Louisian, who at 197 ½ pounds was outweighed by 17 pounds, expend his energy.”
But it was to no avail against an inferior challenger determined enough to beat
him. Of course people will write the loss off as an old, out-of-shape
Ali losing to a young, hungry although completely inexperienced opponent. But an
examination of Ali’s career reveals few significant wins, a number of defeats,
several close calls where he was almost knocked out, many controversial wins,
and alleged fixed fights, as well as a fight where he was completely dominated
(not winning a single round) and stopped by a fighter who is considered his
inferior to this day by those who are blinded by their infatuation for this
over-rated, over-hyped media phenom. However, a clear-eyed, realistic boxing
historian sees Ali for the phony that he was. Before moving on, I must
pause and summarize what we have thus far learned: Ali lost three of the three
fights discussed so far! He was clearly beaten by Trevor Berbick (a journeyman),
completely dominated by Holmes who proved a better technician could not only
defeat him, but utterly dominate him Ali failing to win a single round or even
land a significant punch in the entire fight, and he was beaten and battered by
an amateur with less than 7 pro fights and not all of those wins! Earnie
Shavers (73-14). Shavers was one of the more experienced opponents that Ali
fought, but he was a one-dimensional raw slugger with no chin and few if any
real boxing skills. He had a padded record of 54-5-1 at the time. He was knocked
out 7 times in his career and lost 14 times. He made his reputation by knocking
out nothing but tomato cans. He lost to everyone he fought who could box even a
little. His losses include such stellar names as Stan Johnson, Ron Stander, Bob
Stallings, Walter Santemore, George Chaplin (some relation to Charlie I think),
and Brian Yates. He also lost to every good fighter he faced including Jerry
Quarry and Ron Lyle. Hell, even the totally skill-less Tex Cobb beat him