Boxing legend Leon Spinks dead at 67 after 5-year battle with cancer

Leon Spinks – former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion – who won Muhammad Ali in 1978 … died after a 5 year battle with cancer.

TMZ Sports confirmed that Spinks died on Friday night at the age of 67 … surrounded by his wife Brenda and several other close friends and family.

Leon’s health had recently declined … the former boxing champion bravely fought Prostate cancer during 5 years.

Spinks was the winner of one of the biggest upheavals in sports history … when he shocked the world by defeating Ali in a 15-round split decision victory in Las Vegas in February 1978.

By beating Ali, Spinks – the new heavyweight champion – became the only fighter to ever take a belt from The Greatest.

Ali’s fight was the most memorable moment in Leon’s career … but certainly not the only highlight.

In 1976, Spinks won a gold medal as a light heavyweight fighter at the Montreal Summer Olympics.

Spinks – born in St. Louis in 1953 – developed a passion for boxing while in the US Marines.

Pugilism ran deep in the Spinks family … Leon was the boxer’s older brother Michael spinks – a former world champion in the 2weight category and Olympic gold medalist (the two brothers won gold in 1976).

Leon was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017.