Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali II Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali II Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali II, was a professional boxing match contested on September 15, 1978 in New Orleans for the WBA and Lineal Heavyweight Championships. The fight was estimated to have been watched by a record 2billion viewers worldwide, in some 80 nations. After his shock win over Ali to become Heavyweight champion, Leon Spinks was stripped of the WBC belt for not facing its number one ranked contender Ken Norton, instead he agreed to a rematch with Ali. Ali entered the rematch as a 2½ to 1 favorite. ABC televised the fight
William A. Spinks William A. Spinks William Alexander Spinks Jr. (1865–1933) was an American professional player of carom billiards in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was often referred to as W. A. Spinks, and occasionally Billy Spinks. In addition to being amateur Pacific Coast Billiards Champion several times, a world champion contender in more than one cue sports discipline, and an exhibition player in Europe, he became the co-inventor (with William Hoskins) in 1897 of modern billiard cue chalk. He was originally (and again in retirement from the billiards circuit) a Californian, but spent much of his professional career in