Michael Spinks turned professional with a win over Eddie Benson, knocked out in one round on April 17, 1977 in Las Vegas. With that, Spinks began a 31 fight winning streak that would almost extend to the end of his career. After four more wins, Spinks finished '77 with the first fight that began a gradual ascent in opposition quality: an eight-round decision over Gary Summerhays, a popular young boxer of the time. In 1978, Spinks won two fights, including an eight-round decision over former world Middleweight title challenger Tom Bethea, in the same undercard where his brother Leon dethroned Ali as
Michael Spinks defense to resume his assault. Qawi's best moments were accidentally stepping on Spinks' foot in round eight (apparently this was officially scored a knockdown by the judges) and a few "too little, too late" bombs in round 14. The official scores of 144-140, 144-141 and 144-141 surely reflected a mis-scored rd. 8 "knockdown" as Spinks realistically only surrendered 2 possible rounds (1 and 14). He defended the title one more time before the end of the year, against Oscar Rivadeneira in Alaska, whom he beat by a ten-round knockout. Spinks fought only once in 1984, retaining his crown with a