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Michael Spinks vs. Steffen Tangstad
File:230px
DateSeptember 6, 1986
VenueLas Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineIBF, The Ring and lineal heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Michael Spinks Steffen Tangstad
Nickname Jinx
Hometown St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Tønsberg, Norway
Purse $1,000,000 $50,000
Pre-fight record 29–0 24–1–2
Age 30 years, 1 month 27 years, 11 months
Height 6 ft 2+1⁄2 in (189 cm) 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 201 lb (91 kg) 215 lb (98 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition IBF, The Ring and lineal heavyweight champion EBU heavyweight champion
IBF No. 12 ranked heavyweight
Result
Spinks wins via 4th-round TKO

Michael Spinks vs. Steffen Tangstad was a professional boxing match contested on September 6, 1986, for the IBF, The Ring and lineal heavyweight titles.

Background

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A Michael Spinks–Gerry Cooney fight had long been in the works dating back to January 1986. Spinks' promoter Butch Lewis had been talks with Cooney and his team about Spinks possibly making his first defense against Cooney after his heavyweight title win against Larry Holmes the previous September. These talks stalled when Lewis joined forces with Don King to create the heavyweight unification series after which Spinks was entered into the series with a rematch against Holmes being named as his first fight in the series.[1] Cooney, after failing to defeat Larry Holmes for the WBC heavyweight title in 1982, had fought extremely sparingly since. Following a 16-month layoff after returning to boxing in late 1984 following a 13-month layoff, Cooney was matched up against fringe contender Eddie Gregg on May 31, 1986 with the winner expected to challenge Spinks, who held the IBF heavyweight title and was recognized as the lineal heavyweight champion.[2] After knocking out Gregg in the first round of their fight, Cooney hoped to begin negotiations with Spinks, whom had successfully made the first defense of his title the previous month in a rematch with Holmes.[3] However, Spinks pivoted and instead chose to make his next defense against the IBF's #12 ranked contender Steffen Tangstad, whom he defeated on September 6, 1986.[4][5]

Lewis and Spinks then once again entered into talks with Cooney and his manager Dennis Rapaport, with a deal eventually agreed to in early December.[6] The deal was met with controversy as it was to take place outside of the unification series Spinks was obligated to compete in as IBF heavyweight champion. HBO, who held the American broadcast rights for the series, took the matter to court in hopes of blocking the fight and was successful in doing so when a New York judge granted an injunction that stated that Cooney could not fight Spinks for the IBF title unless he signed on to join the unification series.[7] In response, Lewis, hoping to get around the court order, filed an appeal, stating he intended "to go the whole 15 rounds because I'm right."[8] In February 1987, after months of legal proceedings, the IBF ordered Spinks to return to the unification series and face their top contender Tony Tucker, though doing so would've only netted Spinks around $400,000, a drastic departure from the millions he was expected to earn in the Cooney fight.[9] When Spinks refused the Tucker fight, the IBF officially stripped him of their title on February 26, 1987 and he was subsequently removed from the unification series, with Tucker now pitted against Buster Douglas for the vacant title, though Spinks still held claim to the lineal heavyweight title and held The Ring magazines heavyweight title.[10] Lewis derided the IBF's decision "I don't care if it's the WBA, WBC, IBF, XYZ, people don't buy the alphabets." and announced his intent to still pursue the both the Cooney fight and a fight with then WBA and WBC champion Mike Tyson afterwards.[11] As Spinks and Cooney could still not legally face each other, Spinks' legal team returned to court in early March in hopes of getting the injunction lifted.[12] On March 19, a judge lifted lifted the injunction, finally paving a way for the long waited fight to be announced, which was made official a week later.[13][14] Despite his long periods of inactivity and having fought less than 90 seconds in a 30-month span, Cooney nevertheless came into the fight as an 8–5 favorite.

The fight

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Spinks started off aggressively, furiously attacking Cooney during the first two rounds. Cooney rebounded in the third, opening a cut above Spinks' eye and then kept Spinks on the retreat in the fourth. Spinks then put on a dominating effort in the fifth, dropping Cooney midway through the round after lading several unanswered punches to Cooney's head. Cooney got up at the count of five and continued the fight, but Spinks quickly went back on the attack and again sent Cooney down again only seconds later, though Cooney got back up at the count of seven. Spinks continued to pummel a clearly hurt and almost defenseless Cooney. Before Spinks could send Cooney down a third time, referee Frank Cappuccino stepped in and stopped the fight with nine seconds left in the round, giving Spinks the victory by technical knockout.[15]

Fight card

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Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round Notes
Heavyweight 200+ lbs. Michael Spinks (c) def Steffen Tangstad TKO 4/15 Note 1
Light Heavyweight 175 lbs. Bobby Czyz def. Slobodan Kačar (c) TKO 5/15 Note 2
Heavyweight 200+ lbs. James Douglas def. Dee Collier UD 10/10
Heavyweight 200+ lbs. Mike Tyson def. Alfonso Ratliff TKO 2/10
Super Welterweight 154 lbs. Glenn Thomas def. Bruce Sewell KO 1/6
Heavyweight 200+ lbs. Terry Davis def. Bruce Johnson TKO 3/5
Heavyweight 200+ lbs. Alex Stewart def. James Warren Walker TKO 3/4

^Note 1 For IBF, The Ring and lineal heavyweight titles
^Note 2 For IBF light heavyweight title

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
 United States ABC


References

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  1. ^ Uphill Fight for Cooney, NY Times article, 1986-01-15 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  2. ^ Heavyweight Gerry Cooney, who has not fought in 16..., UPI article, 1986-04-21 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  3. ^ Now that he has conquered Eddie Gregg, Gerry Cooney..., UPI Times article, 1986-05-31 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  4. ^ Spinks Title Defense Planned for Sept. 6, UPI article, 1986-06-21 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  5. ^ Spinks Wins Bout on Knockout in 4th, NY Times article, 1986-09-07 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  6. ^ Spinks-Cooney Is Reported Set, NY Times article, 1986-12-03 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  7. ^ Judge Blocks Spinks Fight, NY Times article, 1986-12-23 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  8. ^ Promoter Butch Lewis Tuesday said he will appeal a..., UPI article, 1986-12-23 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  9. ^ Lewis Finds Himself Against the Ropes, NY Times article, 1987-02-19 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  10. ^ Michael Spinks Stripped of the Heavyweight title LA Times article, retrieved on 2024-02-27
  11. ^ Michael Spinks, without an official world title for the..., UPI article, 1987-02-27 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  12. ^ Spinks Going to Court, NY Times article, 1987-03-03 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  13. ^ A state judge Thursday cleared the way for a..., UPI article, 1987-03-19 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  14. ^ Spinks-Cooney June 15, NY Times article, 1987-03-27 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
  15. ^ Spinks Was Here, There, Everywhere, NY Times article, 1987-06-16 Retrieved on 2024-08-07
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