Leon Spinks and Me
by
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Chapter One
Meeting Leon Spinks
In March of 1980, I was laid off from General Motors, drawing my last extension of my unemployment, after being told that this extension would be my last one. It was time for me to look for a job. I was a single parent with two children to take care of. After graduating from high school in 1976, I had been accepted to the Memphis State Business School. I turned my scholarship down to take care of my mother and my two children. I married the father of the children before graduating. I didn’t want to marry him, because we had so many fights in the past.
My mother had been diagnosed with cancer. She wanted me to marry him, so the children would be taken care of. I tried to assure her that we would be all right. I guess she just wanted to see me walk down the aisle. God bless her soul; that’s a mother’s love for her daughter. She only wanted the best for her child. I married Mr. Tommy Green, but we only stayed together until my mother passed. He went back to chasing women, and I moved to Detroit with my sister and cousins.
They all worked for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, better known in the motor city as “the Big Three.” That’s where almost everybody worked. I got hired at Fisher Body in Livonia, Michigan as a machine operator/seamstress. Everyone was amazed that I had got hired only, being there for three months. They would all talk about how hard it was to get a job working for the Big Three. But I did it. The day that I was to start work, I got a call telling me that they were having an induction enforced layoff, but I had the job and they would be calling me.
2
Betty Spinks
On February 19, 1979, I was officially hired at General Motors. That made my life a little better. I had a job paying $6.75 an hour. In 1978, I was making $1.86 an hour. Early in 1978, Leon had just fought Ali and made millions—or so everyone thought.
The rematch with Leon and Ali was coming up on September 15, 1978. The guys were all talking about the Spinks and Ali fight, which was getting ready to take place in Las Vegas. At that time, Leon lived around the corner from my cousin and a friend’s house, off of Outer Drive. I asked had they ever seen him, and they said no. Cordella said that his son went to school with her children.
Well, if they hadn’t ever seen him, I never thought I would either. It was just nice to know that a celebrity lived in the neighborhood. This was a big deal for my cousins. They moved from Arkansas, where they lived close to another celebrity, Aretha Franklin. This is where I would come to visit on summer vacation. We walk past Aretha’s father’s house, but we never saw her. After the Spinks and Ali fight was over, I never heard anyone talk about Spinks and Ali again. I never knew whether Spinks won or lost that fight. I was not a boxing fan.
On March 12, 1980, I met Leon Spinks. I took a job at the Archer Cocktail Lounge. It was slow that night. I was sitting on a barstool, talking to the manager of the bar, Larry Robinson. We were watching TV. Leon came in, shaking his keys. He came down to the end of the bar and said hello. He stood up against the wall, watching TV. Then he asked me, “Sweetheart, could you get me a Crown Royal and 7Up, and a Miller Lite?”
I said, “Sure.”
Larry said, “That’s okay, Betty. I will get it.”
Larry got Leon’s drink and I remained seated. When Larry returned, he told me that that was Leon Spinks. I said, “Who?”
“He’s the former heavyweight champion of the world.”
I said, “Stop lying!”
He said, “Yes, he beat Muhammad Ali. Ask him.”
I said. “Are you the one that beat Ali?”
Leon took his teeth out of his mouth and put them on the bar, and said, “Yes, I’m the real Leon Spinks.”
My heart stopped beating for a second.
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About the Book
Leon Spinks and Me tells our tale from the way I remember, the way things happened with Leon and me. We are two unique individuals who love life, laughter, and people. We always love helping others and putting ourselves last to help others. It’s sad to say, others did not feel the same way. Leon Spinks and Me tells it the way I remember, the way things happened with Leon and me. We are as we did. They were all for themselves.
Leon Spinks and Me starts in 1980 with our first meeting in Detroit and goes through 2001 when Leon attended the Boxing Hall of Fame, but had stopped boxing professionally. Our lives together were wild and crazy. This is part one of my life with Leon.
Imagine meeting the heavyweight champion of the world. My life changed from the moment I met Leon--sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
He taught me faith, and I can’t let go. Leon will always be in my heart and on my mind. His sons will always be my sons. And if there’s anything that I can do for him, I will do it. Leon is a very special person who loves people.
As Leon once said, "If I was asked what would I have done different or what would I like to change, I would have to say nothing, because it has been a learning experience.” Leon Spinks still remains the people’s champion and is well-received everywhere he goes. And we still remain family.
About the Author
Betty Wilson is from Arkansas, where she grew up in a rural area on fifty-eight and half acres of farmland. She is the founder and president of the Betty Spinks Foundation in Illinois and is a board member of the Zachary Elderly Foundation in Arkansas. Betty attended the University of Arkansas and the American Career Academy in Southfield, Michigan. She has had many jobs and many roles in life, including wife, mother, grandmother, caregiver, consultant, counselor, and evangelist. You could say that she is a jack of all trades. Now she is trying something new: being an author.