Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks was a boxing match which took place on Monday June 27, 1988. Both men were undefeated and each had a claim to being the legitimate heavyweight champion. At the time, Tyson held the belts of all three of the major sanctioning organizations (World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association, and International Boxing Federation) while Spinks was the "Ring" champion and was considered the lineal champion. Held at the Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey and promoted as "once and for all", it was at the time the richest
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