Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali II John Tate and Gerrie Coetzee for the vacant WBA title. "We knew Muhammad Ali was going to retire," Arum said, "but as long as he delayed, I couldn't make definite plans." However, in October 1980 Ali returned to face WBC Champion Larry Holmes but was stopped by TKO in the 10th round. He then retired for good after a lackluster loss to Trevor Berbick in December 1981, thus making this fight the final win in Ali's career. Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali II Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali II, was a professional boxing match contested on September 15, 1978 in
William A. Spinks January 1909, just prior to an 18.1 balkline championship at Madison Square Garden (in which Spinks was not competing), he and Maurice Daly were observed playing practice games with Sutton for the latter's pre-event training, in Daly's billiard hall in New York City, on multiple occasions over a several-day stretch. While Spinks lost all but one of the recorded matches of this series, one loss was by a single point, at 400–399, and another was a close 400–370. His victory was 300–194 – surprising given that 18.1 was not his preferred game. Many articles of the era stress that Spinks