Cory Spinks welterweight titles in 1997. Spinks went 29-2 in his first 31 contests, only losing to Antonio Díaz (regarded as a controversial decision by some boxing analysts and ringside observers) and Michele Piccirillo, whom he defeated by decision in a re-match. However, Spinks rose to boxing stardom by unifying the WBC, WBA, IBF, and "The Ring" and lineal welterweight titles on December 13, 2003, when he defeated Ricardo Mayorga by majority decision. Spinks was a 5 to 1 underdog going into the fight with Mayorga. The judges scored the fight 114-112, 117-109, 114-114, favoring Spinks. Spink' first Welterweight title defense came
Michael Spinks vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi to six were, on the eyes of many, including the judges, dominated by Spinks . By the middle rounds, however, Qawi began to untrack, and, in round eight, Spinks suffered two falls: the first one was ruled a slip, but the second one was a controversial knockdown. As Spinks stepped on one of Qawi's feet, Qawi landed a blow to Spinks' body. Left without any choice (because Qawi had landed a punch the moment before Spinks fell), the referee issued an eight-second count after Spinks rose, making it officially Spinks' first career fall. The knockdown was controversial, because many continue