Michael Spinks vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi set for September 27 of 1984, but it was cancelled after Qawi was injured during training, three weeks before the fight. Spinks went on to become the first world light heavyweight champion in boxing history to go up in weight and win the world heavyweight title. Qawi, for his part, went up to the cruiserweight division, where he reigned as WBA world champion from 1985 to 1986. Both fighters are now members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Confirmed bouts: Michael Spinks vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi Michael Spinks vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi, billed as "The Brawl for it All",
Michael Spinks in Miami, Florida, and that same year captured the United States Olympic Trials Middleweight Championship by defeating Keith Broom in Cincinnati, Ohio. He went on to defeat the Soviet Union's Rufat Riskiev to win the Gold Medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Spinks finished with a 93-7 amateur record with 35 knockouts. With the Olympics behind him, Spinks returned to work at a chemical factory in St. Louis, "scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets," as one source tells it. He had no big contracts awaiting him and, while Michael appeared to experts to be the more promising