Former champion

Leon Spinks

, who surprised the world by defeating the mythical

Muhammad Ali

for the world heavyweight title in 1978, died this Friday at the age of 67, as reported this Sunday by "Firm PR", the public relations company that represented it.

Spinks, who had suffered from prostate cancer and other tumors for five years, died with his wife

Brenda Glur Spinks

by his side

, the aforementioned firm detailed.

The boxer, a native of St. Louis, a former Marine who won a gold medal at light heavyweight at the 1976 Olympics, had only fought eight fights in his professional career when he stepped into the ring against Ali on February 15, 1978, in Las Vegas.

Spinks had never gone past 10 rounds and faced the champion, then 36 years old and in the twilight of his legendary career.

At the age of 24, Spinks lived to a 15-round fight with Ali that provided harsh punishment in the closing seconds of the bout, leaving him without reaction.

The split decision went to Spinks, who flashed his famous spread-toothed smile after becoming the only fighter to take a title from Ali.

Suddenly, Spinks became the heavyweight champion of the world, proclaiming the memorable phrase: "I'm not the greatest. Just the last."

But that would prove to be the highlight of Spinks' career as, first, he was stripped of the World Boxing Council (WBC) title for refusing to defend it against top contender

Ken Norton

.

Instead, he chose a rematch against Ali, who regained the World Boxing Association (WBA) title in a unanimous decision, seven months after his first fight, and that would be the last victory of his career.

Defeat to Holmes

Spinks would fight once again for the heavyweight title, in June 1981, with a TKO loss to

Larry Holmes

and the WBC belt at stake.

He then dropped to the cruiserweight division, but lost his only title shot to

Dwight Muhammad Qawi

in a sixth round TKO in 1986.

Spinks retired at age 42 after losing a unanimous decision to

Fred Houpe

in 1995 and ended his career with a 26-17-3 record (14 knockouts).

After also participating in wrestling and mixed martial arts later on, Spinks had to face financial and medical problems.

After moving to Las Vegas, Spinks married Brenda in 2011. The two were seen often in boxing-related activities, including Spinks' induction into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017.

In 2014, Spinks suffered intestinal damage and was hospitalized after swallowing a piece of chicken bone and underwent multiple surgeries.

His health problems were compounded in 2019 by having to receive treatment for prostate cancer.

Spinks was the brother of former Hall of Fame heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Michael Spinks and the father of undisputed former world welterweight champion Cory Spinks.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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