Tag Archives: Leon

Posted on 12/11/2019

By: Sean Crose

Former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks is reportedly in a Las Vegas hospital. According to TMZ, the former Olympian, who stunned the world by besting the iconic Muhammad Ali back in 1978, is “fighting for his life.” The 66 year old Spinx’ wife took to Facebook on Monday: “Dear Friends,” she wrote. “It’s been awhile. However you know how I Believe In the Power of Prayer. Reaching out to ask you to kindly send some prayers out for my Beautiful Husband Leon. So that he may overcome the obstacles that have crossed his path. We Love You All & Appreciate Your Support.”

Spinks’ son, Leon Spinks III, also took to social media: “As u all know by now,” he stated, “I’m a very very private person & i NEVER seek attention or emotional support on social media for the uncontrollable b.s life seem to throw at me.. but this is for the record My Dad isnt doing so good now & his wife Brenda Glur Spinks and I ask that u pray that he weather’s this storm. my dad is all i have left and i really appreciate it if yall let God know that he is not in this battle alone .. PLEEEEASE – Thank You”

No mention has been made as of press time as to what Spinks is currently suffering from. He has reportedly had medical scares before. TMZ points out that the former champion suffered from severe internal issues caused by a chicken bone a few years back. The fact that the Spinks family is reaching out to the public for prayers indicates that this current medical challenge is quite serious. “Please join me in praying for good health for my brother, who is my idol @LeonNeonSpinks,” younger brother Michael – also a former heavyweight champion – tweeted on Tuesday.
After winning a gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games, Spinks, who had also served in the US Marines, went on to meet the great Ali in Las Vegas in February of ’78. Although he was a prohibitive underdog, the product of St Louis employed his awkward style to such success that he walked away with a split decision win, and the heavyweight championship of the world. Ali, however, went on to regain his crown the following September in New Orleans by earning a unanimous decision victory. Spinks was never again able to attain the heights he reached in the late 70s. Still, the elder of the famed Spinks brothers had made his mark on the sport of boxing, a sport he continued to engage in professionally until 1995.

Posted on 05/23/2017

Anthony Dirrell Speaks Out On Last Saturday Night
By: Sean Crose

Boxing once again received some negative attention last Saturday night when chaos ensued after the Andre Dirrell-Jose Uzcategui super middleweight bout in Maryland. Dirrell was sent down and out by a punch that landed after the bell. Uzcategui was disqualified, but Dirrell’s uncle and trainer, Leon Lawson Jr, sucker punched Uzcategui twice in the fight’s aftermath. He’s now being sought by Maryland police. There was also an incident, however, involving Dirrell’s sibling, Anthony, for video shows the younger Dirrell brother pushing an individual in the post-fight madness. The man who was pushed is said to have been a Maryland commissioner. Needless to say, word was out that the police were quite interested in Anthony’s actions that night, as well as his uncles’.

Anthony Dirrell himself, however, claims the police weren’t interested in him at all last weekend. “They wasn’t even looking for me,” Dirrell said over the phone. “They never interviewed me or nothing.” Dirrell even claimed that the police were rather helpful after the madness that transpired at the MGM Grand National Arena. “They escorted me to my brother’s room,” he claimed. Dirrells’ assertions coincide with those of his representative, Kira Kusky, who I had spoken with earlier in the day. “He is not in any jeopardy,” she said when I asked about a police investigation. “No, not at all.”

And so Anthony Dirrell looks clear to meet Callum Smith next September in California for the WBC world super middleweight title. There was word that the championship battle would be put off due to legal matters stemming from last Saturday, but both Dirrell and his representative assured me that wouldn’t be the case. “His next fight is still on,” Kusky said, a fact Dirrell himself reiterated when we spoke a short time later. “I don’t see how (the fight could be off),” he claimed. “Nobodies’ looking for me.” It’s clear, then, that Dirrell and his team feel it is safe to focus on the talented and undefeated Smith without being impeded by legal matters.

As for older brother, Andre – who found himself on the mat after the bell last Saturday – Dirrell claims he’s doing well. “My bother’s fine,” he said. The saga of Leon Lawson Jr, uncle and trainer, has yet to be resolved (he’s still wanted by police, after all), yet it looks like both Dirrell brothers themselves are free to carry on with their respective careers. Before the call ended I asked Anthony if he’d like to, through his perspective, go over the events at the MGM Grand National Arena. “No,” he responded. “I’m not talking about that.”

Posted on 05/22/2017

Boxing’s Dark Saturday
By: Sean Crose

Look, boxing is a rough sport. Always has been. Always will be. Nothing gets much darker than when fighters become permanently damaged or even killed.

There’s other less than savory matters, however, that often abound in and around the sweet science. For years, the sport was heavily under mafia influence. What’s more, bad decisions on the part of judges still pop up on a regular basis. Worse yet, modern fans are forever being taken for saps (Mayweather-McGregor is – or will be – in a sense, only the most recent example). And then, of course, there’s the miscellaneous, off the wall stuff. Like the time an in-ring riot erupted immediately after a Riddick Bowe-Andrew Golota heavyweight throwdown.

This past Saturday presented just such a scenario, when Jose Uzcategui was disqualified for hitting Andre Dirrell after the bell, an act which subsequently sent Dirrell to the mat. In response to said offense, Dirrell’s trainer and uncle, Leon Lawson Jr, absolutely cold cocked an unsuspecting Uzcategui twice. To make matters all the more insane, the entire incident was recorded for the entire world to see. Police are now looking for Lawson, who will be charged with some pretty serious stuff after such a violent assault. The trainer, who slipped out of the MGM Grand National Arena after the attack, is still essentially on the lam, as a Sunday phone call to the Saint George’s County Police Department presented no further developments.

Again, boxing is a rough sport. What’s more, physical violence, which is what boxing deals in, can lead to exceedingly high emotions. Still, one simply does not get to step up to an unsuspecting person and repeatedly punch that person in the face. It’s illegal and it’s also wrong.

Will Lawson be banned from boxing, as some are suggesting? Will he end up doing jail time? Maybe. Maybe not. This is boxing, after all, where nothing can be taken for granted, either in or out of the ring.

Yet the dark cloud that hung over the sport on Saturday didn’t begin and end with Lawson. Up in Madison Square Garden, Terence Crawford absolutely beat the hell out of an overmatched Felix Diaz later that same evening. Fair enough, you might say, Diaz knew what he was getting himself into. And while that’s true, this author still found Crawford’s behavior unsavory. Mocking an opponent is part of the psychological warfare of boxing.

Mocking an opponent while in the act of deforming that opponent’s face, however, is sadistic and unacceptable. Oh, it’s legally permissible. But it is – or should be – socially unacceptable, nonetheless.

Boxing’s been having a great year. Here’s hoping the terrible moments keep to a minimum.