Michael Spinks Michael Spinks Michael Spinks (born July 13, 1956) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal heavyweight title from 1985 to 1988. As an amateur he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Nicknamed "Jinx", which spawned the nickname of his right hand, "The Spinks Jinx", Spinks is the brother of former world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, and uncle of Cory Spinks, a former welterweight and light middleweight champion. After
Scipio Spinks shuttled between Class AAA and the major league club for the next few seasons. The hard-throwing Spinks had control problems but also struck out an average of one batter per inning in the American Association. In April 1972, Spinks was traded to the Cardinals for Jerry Reuss. He started the season with the major league club and pitched well. By midseason, he was third in the National League in strikeouts, behind only Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver. Spinks finished with a 2.67 ERA. Spinks was exceptionally fast for a pitcher, and for that reason the Cardinals frequently used him as