Leon Spinks the distinction until the Klitschko brothers became champions two decades later. In the 1980s Leon Spinks competed in several boxer vs. wrestler matches in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), including losing by submission to Antonio Inoki. In 1986 Spinks earned his last championship opportunity, fighting Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the WBA cruiserweight championship. Qawi had been defeated by Michael Spinks three years earlier for his WBC light heavyweight championship. However, Leon Spinks lost by TKO in the sixth round. During the fight, Qawi taunted Spinks as he beat him mercilessly in a corner. Spinks boxed for another eight years with mixed
Michael Spinks vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi dramatic backgrounds: two months before, Spinks' longtime girlfriend, who was the mother of his only daughter, had died after a car accident. On fight night, Spinks' two-year-old daughter, unaware that her mother had died, walked into Spinks' locker room and asked when would her mother show up to see the fight. Spinks cried, but he was able to keep his composure. Qawi had been better known to most fans as Dwight Braxton. He still had not talked much in public about his name change and his Muslim faith. About seven days before the fight, he revealed that his doctors had