Olympic Games Gold Medalist Athlete, Professional Boxer. The youngest Briton ever to capture Olympic Gold in boxing, he later had a noted professional career. Raised in London's East End he started boxing at nine, apprenticed as a jockey, won around 200 amateur bouts, and earned the Amateur Boxing Association title but was working as a garbage man when selected for the 1956 Olympic team. In Melbourne he competed as a flyweight and won five fights in a week, defeating Romanian Mircia Dobrescu for the Gold Medal. Gaining weight with maturity he turned professional as featherweight, winning his first bout in April of 1957; he was to capture the British Featherweight crown from Bobby Neal in 1960 but lose it to Welshman Howard Winstone the year following. He won his final fight by stopping Johnny Mantle in December 1962 but was advised to retire for reasons of health. His final totals were 45 wins with 13 knockouts, three losses and a draw; Spinks had a hard life after leaving the ring though he was for a time a successful trainer and coach and indeed was coaching the South Korean team at the 1972 Munich Olympics when he was selected by fate to sound the alarm when terrorists attacked the Israeli compound. A 30 year battle with the bottle ruined his health before he achieved sobriety in 1994; in 2002 he was finally given a place on the Queen's Honours list, being named Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He died following a protracted illness.
Olympic Games Gold Medalist Athlete, Professional Boxer. The youngest Briton ever to capture Olympic Gold in boxing, he later had a noted professional career. Raised in London's East End he started boxing at nine, apprenticed as a jockey, won around 200 amateur bouts, and earned the Amateur Boxing Association title but was working as a garbage man when selected for the 1956 Olympic team. In Melbourne he competed as a flyweight and won five fights in a week, defeating Romanian Mircia Dobrescu for the Gold Medal. Gaining weight with maturity he turned professional as featherweight, winning his first bout in April of 1957; he was to capture the British Featherweight crown from Bobby Neal in 1960 but lose it to Welshman Howard Winstone the year following. He won his final fight by stopping Johnny Mantle in December 1962 but was advised to retire for reasons of health. His final totals were 45 wins with 13 knockouts, three losses and a draw; Spinks had a hard life after leaving the ring though he was for a time a successful trainer and coach and indeed was coaching the South Korean team at the 1972 Munich Olympics when he was selected by fate to sound the alarm when terrorists attacked the Israeli compound. A 30 year battle with the bottle ruined his health before he achieved sobriety in 1994; in 2002 he was finally given a place on the Queen's Honours list, being named Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He died following a protracted illness.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Advertisement
See more Spinks memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
