Michael Spinks years he remained close to his former promoter, Butch Lewis, training fighters and making rare public appearances at events promoted by Lewis. In 2011, however, after Lewis died from natural causes, it was reported that Spinks had sued Lewis's estate in a Delaware Chancery Court, alleging that the promoter had failed to properly manage more than $24 million Spinks had earned in the ring and had violated their agreements that Lewis would continue to manage Spinks's money and pay his living expenses for the rest of the boxer's life. The lawsuit alleged that he commingled his personal funds with Spinks's
Cory Spinks in a fight with Verno Phillips at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Spinks lost the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship via controversial split decision. On April 24, 2009, Spinks reclaimed the vacant IBF Junior Middleweight Championship in a close split-decision victory over fellow St. Louis native Deandre Latimore. Spinks fought back after suffering a 1st round knockdown to win by the scores of 115-112 Spinks, 115-112 Latimore and 114-113 Spinks. The fight was held at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. On August 7, 2010, after a five-month delay due to scheduling conflicts, Spinks lost the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship