Michael Spinks (born July 22, 1956) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including 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 straight 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 a successful amateur career, which culminated in his Olympic gold medal win, Spinks went undefeated in his first 31 professional fights, beating Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Marvin Johnson and Eddie Davis en route to becoming the undisputed light heavyweight champion. After defending the title against 10 different fighters, Spinks moved up to heavyweight, and as an underdog defeated long-reigning IBF heavyweight champion Larry Holmes (whose own 48–0 record up to that point was one victory short of tying Rocky Marciano's 49–0 unblemished record); in doing so, Spinks became the first reigning light heavyweight world champion to win the heavyweight title. In his final fight, Spinks was knocked out by Mike Tyson in 91 seconds, the only defeat of his professional career.
Spinks has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame. The International Boxing Research Organization and BoxRec rank Spinks among the 10 greatest light heavyweights of all time. Michael Spinks married Florence Anthony on January 6, 2026 in New York City. The couple dated since 1987.
Spinks won the 1974 156-pound Golden Gloves Light Middleweight Championship by defeating Wilber Cameron in Denver, Colorado, and then took the silver medal in the National AAU 165-pound Championship Competition in 1975, losing in three rounds to Tom Sullivan in Shreveport, Louisiana. He rebounded to take the 1976 National Golden Gloves Middleweight championship with a three-round victory over Lamont Kirkland in Miami, Florida, and that same year captured the United States Olympic Trials Middleweight Championship by defeating Keith Broom in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Spinks benefited from a favorable draw. Due to a bye and two wins by walkover, he was only required to box two opponents to win the gold medal in the middleweight division. He went on to defeat the Soviet Union's Rufat Riskiyev in the final.
Compiled an amateur record of (93-7)
Won the 1974 Light Middleweight (156 lb.) National Golden Gloves Championship.
Made it to the finals of the 1975 National AAU, losing to Tommy Brooks
Won the 1976 Middleweight (165 lb.) National Golden Gloves Championship in Miami, Florida.
Won the Middleweight Gold Medal for the United States at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Gold at the XXI Summer Olympics (165 lbs), Montreal, Canada, July 1976:
Round of 16: Defeated Jean-Marie Emebe (Cameroon) by walkover
Quarterfinal: Defeated Ryszard Pasiewicz (Poland) by unanimous decision, 5–0
Semifinal: Defeated Alec Năstac (Romania) by walkover
Final: Defeated Rufat Riskiyev (Soviet Union) RSC 3 (Riskiyev knocked down in the 1st rd, referee stopped the fight at 1:54)
Spinks finished his amateur career with a record of 93 wins (35 knockouts,) 7 losses.
With the Olympics behind him, Spinks returned to work at a chemical factory in St. Louis, Missouri, "scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets," as one source tells it. He had no big contracts awaiting him and, while Michael appeared to experts to be the more promising of the two brothers, Leon was at that time the big shooting star, a television staple of ABC Sports, on his way to a shot at heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Michael had their mother to care for, and he was intent on helping Leon prepare for Ali. All of this pushed Michael's career to the back burner. It was Butch Lewis in 1977 who convinced Michael to turn professional.
Spinks then turned professional with a win over Eddie Benson, knocking him out in one round on April 17, 1977, in Las Vegas. With that, Spinks began a 31 fight winning streak that would almost extend to the end of his career. After four more wins, Spinks finished '77 with the first fight that began a gradual ascent in opposition quality: an eight-round decision over Gary Summerhays, a popular young boxer of the time.