How Did You Score It RBR: Larry Holmes vs Michael Spinks I

[Eff Pandas]

Sept. 21, 1985
Riviera Hotel & Casino, Outdoor Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Promoters: Don King Productions/Don King & Butch Lewis Productions/Butch Lewis


The Main Event:

Larry "The Easton Assassin" Holmes
(35yrs, 48-0, 34KO's, 221 1/2lbs)

vs

Michael Spinks "Jinx"
(29yrs, 27-0, 19KO's, 199 3/4lbs)



If you wanna fast forward past the pre-fight stuff Spinks starts his ring walk at around 31:30 minutes in & the opening bell rings around 40:50 minutes in.

Feel free to copy/paste the scorecard below to score the fight rbr as you watch it.

Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Round 4:
Round 5:
Round 6:
Round 7:
Round 8:
Round 9:
Round 10:
Round 11:
Round 12:
Round 13:
Round 14:
Round 15:

Official Scorecards:

Lawrence Wallace 145-142 MS
Dave Moretti 143-142 MS
Harold Lederman 143-142 MS

The Undercard:

Julio Cesar Chavez (23yrs, 47-0, 40KO's, 130lbs) W12 Dwight Pratchett (21yrs, 13-6, 5KO's, 128 1/4lbs)

Bernard Benton (28yrs, 17-3-1, 8KO's, 190lbs) W12 Alfonzo Ratliff (29yrs, 20-2, 15KO's, 194lbs)

Mitchell Julien (24yrs, 16-1, 13KO's, 140lbs) KO4 Benjamin Quintero (?yrs, 0-2, 138lbs)

Luciano Solis (?yrs, 5-0, 4KO's, 125lbs) W6 Jose Enriquez (?yrs, Pro Debut, ?lbs)

Glenn Thomas (22yrs, 3-0, 2KO's, 152lbs) KO1 Ron Morgan (?yrs, 1-2, 153lbs)

James Pritchard (24yrs, Pro Debut, 209lbs) KO2 Vince Parker (?yrs, 1-2, 1KO, ?lbs)

[Eff Pandas]

My scorecard:

Round 1: Even 10-10, Even 10-10, not a lot going on in rd 1, couldn't give it to either guy

Round 2: MS 10-9, MS 20-19, close rd, but I thought MS landed the more telling punches in the last minute to take the rd

Round 3: MS 10-9, MS 30-28, MS outworking LH, LH can't get his jab landing with any frequency

Round 4: MS 10-9, MS 40-37, MS looking really good at times in rd 4, seemed to even get tired towards the end of rd due to all the offense he was throwing

Round 5: MS 10-9, MS 50-46, close-ish rd, thought MS landed the better punches, but LH had some good moments & could see him getting the edge this rd with some people

Round 6: MS 10-9, MS 60-55, MS consistently landing through out the rd & just looking too quick for LH

Round 7: MS 10-9, MS 70-64, not impressed with either guy much in this rd, but MS is more active + landing more

Round 8: MS 10-9, MS 80-73, close-ish rd, MS more effective more often, LH had some good body shots this rd but not doing enough overall in any specific rd

Round 9: LH 10-9, MS 89-83, MS conceded this rd with his lack of activity for most of the rd

Round 10: LH 10-9, MS 98-93, MS lost his chill in this rd over some elbows, liked MS work better, but I thought he ran too much in this rd to give it too him

Round 11: LH 10-9, MS 107-103, MS exhausted, playing keep away more than fighting, LH more consistent even if nothing really good is landing

Round 12: LH 10-9, MS 116-113, MS doing a lot of running & avoiding the fight, having some good moments, but I like LH consistency the whole rd better

Round 13: MS 10-9, MS 126-122, MS ran alot in first part of this rd, but come on nicely in the 2nd half & won it on my card

Round 14: MS 10-9, MS 136-131, close-ish rd with a lot of back & forth early, but MS kept it up in the 2nd half & took the rd for me

Round 15: LH 10-9, MS 145-141, Holmes lands his best two punches of the fight with about a minute left, could see the rd going to MS doe based on his better consistency in the rd

[OctoberRed]

From what I remember I had Holmes winning the fight by two rounds - but there was a round or two where I could have went the other way.

[HOUDINI563]

Spinks has a strong case for fight 1 but no way he won fight two.

[The Old LefHook]

They were not fights anyway.

[billeau2]

Its funny how Spinks was characterized back then, as "ackward."

There was nothing ackward about him, he moved from a 50 50 base and did not square up, or have his weight back legged. This gave him incredible head movement and let him counter holmes.

I couldn't score this one today but will try maybe later.

[OctoberRed]

Spinks has a strong case for fight 1 but no way he won fight two.

I would agree with this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[The plunger man]

I actually bet on spinks to win and got 7-1 ...got $120 dollars back.
Spinks that night beat Holmes with his movement and flurries.
Holmes just could not set himself that night and spinks just outworked him.
I saw a clear decision for Michael spinks that night.

[HOUDINI563]

Spinks certainly was visibly awkward.... his movement about the ring appeared staccato... far removed from smooth and graceful.

[OctoberRed]

Spinks certainly was visibly awkward.... his movement about the ring appeared staccato... far removed from smooth and graceful.

Agreed