February 15, 1978: Leon Spinks stuns Muhammad Ali at the Las Vegas Hilton, and wins a split decision to take the Heavyweight Championship of the World. With only 8 professional fights, the 1976 Olympic Gold Medalist has defeated the 36-year-old "Greatest of All Time."
It was shocking. Spinks went from hot prospect to big star in the blink of an eye, his missing-front-teeth grin greeting everyone from TV viewers to readers of Sports Illustrated magazine.
The World Boxing Council later stripped Spinks of their branch of the title -- not for having only 8 professional fights, but for giving Ali a rematch on September 15, which the WBC refused to sanction. They wanted Spinks to fight the man they ranked as their Number 1 contender Ken Norton, who had already beaten Ali in 1973, lost to him later that year, and nearly beaten him in 1976. The WBC recognized Norton as Champion. This was the beginning of the split in boxing titles that holds today.
Norton was then beaten by Larry Holmes. Ali won the rematch with Spinks, then retired. Then he came out of retirement, and Holmes ruined him, and then beat Spinks, and held the title until 1985, when he lost to Spinks' brother and fellow 1976 Gold Medalist, Michael.
Never again has a fighter with so few professional fights been given a shot at the heavyweight title. When Mike Tyson won the WBC version of the title in 1986, he was the youngest fighter ever to win a piece of it, just 20 years old, but it was his 28th professional fight.
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February 15, 1978 was a Wednesday. Baseball and football were out of season. No games were scheduled for the NBA. There were 5 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at Madison Square Garden.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Atlanta Flames and the Cleveland Barons played to a tie, 5-5 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Chicago Black Hawks and the Colorado Rockies played to a tie, 2-2 at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Montreal Canadiens beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-2 at the Checkerdome (as the St. Louis Arena was then known).
And there were 3 games in the World Hockey Association:
* The Houston Aeros beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 5-2 at the Riverfront Coliseum (now the Heritage Bank Center) in Cincinnati.
* The Indianapolis Racers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 9-6 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-5 at the Winnipeg Arena.
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