I saw him box at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. His win over Ali was one of the bigger upsets in boxing history, but when Ali actually trained for the rematch seven months later, it was no contest. He later fought for world titles two other times, but lost both times. He caught lightning in a bottle in his 8th professional fight, but was 16-15-1 in this last 32 fights from 1981 to 1995. His son Cory was a three-time world champion (welterweight and junior middleweight), and of course his brother Michael was a great light heavyweight and heavyweight champion (until Mike Tyson came along). He definitely paid the price in brain damage from boxing, but actually seemed to have aged more gracefully than many former boxers. RIP.
I saw Leon in a hotel bar opposite the St Louis Gateway Arch about 25 years ago and I'm actually amazed he lasted this long. He never was much for words but when I saw him he had a shuffling gait, barely able to lift his feet off the floor and stiff, unnatural arm movements constantly bent at the elbows. I felt bad for the guy then - his last couple of decades must have been a personal hell.
Rip Not a huge boxing fan, but isn’t he the one back in the 80s that we all payed to watch fight Tyson on pay per view, and it lasted like 10 seconds?
