Cory Spinks

Cory Spinks
Statistics
Real name	Corey A. Calvin
Nickname(s)	The Next Generation
Rated at	Middleweight Light middleweight Welterweight
Height	5 feet 9.5 inches (1.765 m)
Reach	71 in (180 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	20 February 1978 (1978-02-20) (age 33) St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	43
Wins	37
Wins by KO	11
Losses	6
Draws	0
No contests	0

Corey Spinks (born Corey Calvin, February 20, 1978 in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.) is a professional boxer. He is a former IBF Light middleweight champion, and a former Undisputed Welterweight Champion.

Spinks is the son of former heavyweight champion of the world Leon Spinks and the nephew of former light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion Michael Spinks. Cory was born five days after his dad defeated Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight world title in 1978. He is one of three boxing brothers: older brother Leon Calvin was a top St. Louis amateur and 2-0 as a pro when he was murdered in 1990, older brother Darrell Spinks is a retired pro.

He's a southpaw with good skills, handspeed, and mobility. He's known for keeping a busy pace, keeping his opponents off-balance, and outworking them. Spinks also has a good amateur background. He won in first major title in March 2003, when he defeated Michele Piccirillo by unanimous decision for the WBC Welterweight Championship.

Early Years & Amateur Career

Spinks started boxing at the age of 7 for the North Side Bombers boxing team in St. Louis, Missouri. Charles Hamm (the owner and coach for the team) introduced him and his two older brothers to the sport. Hamm trained Cory well into his professional career. His current trainer and former St. Louis policeman Kevin Cunningham, opened a boxing gym in the basement of an old police building, where Hamm took them to train until his retirement. Cunningham was also a former boxer in the Army.

Spinks won the National Police Athletic League (PAL) Jr. championships in 1993. He was hospitalized when he was 17 years old suffering from gunshot wounds to the upper torso. He recovered from his injuries, becoming the 1997 National Golden Gloves champion at 147 pounds, and the 1997 National PAL champion at 147 pounds. In the National PAL finals, Spinks won a 4-1 decision against Dante Craig, who went on to make the 2000 US Olympic team.

Spinks reportedly had 91 amateur bouts (78-13). He fought against Ken.

Undisputed Welterweight Champion

Spinks rose to boxing stardom by unifying the WBC, WBA, IBF, and Ring Magazine welterweight titles on December 13, 2003, when he defeated Ricardo Mayorga by majority decision. Spinks was a 5 to 1 underdog going into the fight with Mayorga. The judges scored the fight 114-112, 117-109, 114-114, favoring Spinks.

Spinks vs. Judah I & II

Spink' first Welterweight title defense came on April 10, 2004, against former world champion Zab Judah. Spinks controlled the action over the first four rounds. In the later rounds, however, Judah's quick left hands began to find their target. Both men hit the deck late, but all three scorecards favored Spinks, as the champion won with scores of 116-111, 114-112, 114-112.

Spink's second Welterweight defence came when the two fighters met in a February 2005 rematch. The second fight was the first major bout in St. Louis in more than 40 years, and it was a 22,000+ sellout at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Spinks received star treatment during introductions, with rapper Nelly accompanying him into the ring and leading the crowd in a singalong.

Midway through round 9, Judah landed a huge left that hurt Spinks, with a follow-up putting him on the canvas. Spinks rose, but Judah rushed in with a series of hard punches that left Spinks defenseless on the ropes. Judah tried to get the official to step in, but the bout continued until another right-left sent Spinks sprawling into the ropes, where the official finally halted the bout with 11 seconds left, transferring the undisputed Welterweight Championship to Judah.

Junior Middleweight Champion

On July 8, 2006, Spinks earned his fifth world title, the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship (also called Super Welterweight by some sanctioning bodies), in a fight with reigning champion Roman Karmazin at the Savvis Center. Despite having some rough moments in the bout, Spinks beat Karmazin by majority decision with final scorecards of 114-114, 115-113, and 115-113.

On May 19, 2007, Spinks moved up one weight class to Middleweight with a challenge against World Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. Taylor held on to the title, defeating Spinks in a split decision.^[1]

On March 27, 2008, in a fight with Verno Phillips at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Spinks lost the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship in a split decision.

On April 24, 2009, Spinks reclaimed the vacant IBF Junior Middleweight Championship in a close split-decision victory over fellow St. Louis native Deandre Latimore. Spinks fought back after suffering a 1st round knockdown to win by the scores of 115-112 Spinks, 115-112 Latimore and 114-113 Spinks. The fight was held at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

On August 7, 2010, after a five month delay due to scheduling conflicts,^[2] Spinks lost the IBF Junior Middleweight Championship in a fight with mandatory challenger Cornelius Bundrage at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The fight was decided by a technical knockout in the fifth round.^[3]

Professional boxing record

38 Wins (11 Knockouts), 6 Defeats, 0 Draws[4]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Win	38–6	Shakir Ashanti	UD	10	2011-06-25	Family Arena, Saint Charles, Missouri
Loss	37–6	Cornelius Bundrage	TKO	5 (12), 1:28	2010-08-07	Scottrade Center, Saint Louis, Missouri	Lost IBF World Light Middleweight title
Win	37–5	Deandre Latimore	SD	12	2009-04-24	Scottrade Center, Saint Louis, Missouri	Won vacant IBF World Light Middleweight title
Loss	36–5	Verno Phillips	SD	12	2008-03-27	Scottrade Center, Saint Louis, Missouri	Lost IBF World Light Middleweight title
Loss	36–4	Jermain Taylor	SD	12	2007-05-19	FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee	For WBC & WBO World Middleweight titles
Win	36–3	Rodney Jones	UD	12	2007-02-03	Silver Spurs Arena, Kissimmee, Florida	Retained IBF World Light Middleweight title
Win	35–3	Roman Karmazin	MD	12	2006-07-08	Savvis Center, Saint Louis, Missouri	Won IBF World Light Middleweight title
Loss	34–3	Zab Judah	TKO	9 (12), 2:49	2005-02-05	Savvis Center, Saint Louis, Missouri	Lost The Ring, WBC, WBA Super & IBF World Welterweight titles
Win	34–2	Miguel Ángel González	UD	12	2004-09-04	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained The Ring, WBC, WBA Super & IBF World Welterweight titles
Win	33–2	Zab Judah	UD	12	2004-04-10	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained The Ring, WBC, WBA Super & IBF World Welterweight titles
Win	32–2	Ricardo Mayorga	MD	12	2003-12-13	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey	Retained IBF and Won The Ring, WBC & WBA Super World Welterweight titles
Win	31–2	Michele Piccirillo	UD	12	2003-03-22	Casino di Campione, Campione d'Italia, Lombardia	Won IBF World Welterweight title
Win	30–2	Rafael Pineda	TD	7 (12), 3:00	2002-08-23	Jai Alai Fronton, Miami, Florida	Won vacant WBA Fedelatin Welterweight title
Loss	29–2	Michele Piccirillo	UD	12	2002-04-13	Casino di Campione, Campione d'Italia, Lombardia	For vacant IBF World Welterweight title

Family

Spinks and his wife Christy have a daughter together named Chloe Leona Spinks, named after her grandfather and former heavyweight champion of the world Leon Spinks.

Spinks and his ex-wife Kimberly King have one daughter, Brianna Calvin. King was charged with domestic assault in the first degree and armed criminal action, in 2005, for stabbing Spinks, then her husband, in the shoulder and abdomen during a domestic dispute. Spinks was taken to Christian North East hospital (St Louis, MO) and later released with what his trainer described as "minor" wounds. Spinks's brothers Darrel and Steve are also fighters, and his eldest brother Leon Jr., was also a fighter before his death.

References

1. ^ Dan Rafael. "Spinks' style frustrates crowd as Taylor wins by split decision". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2876530&campaign=rss&source=BOXINGHeadlines. Retrieved 2009-05-22. 
2. ^ "Spinks vs Bundrage Postponed". East Side Boxing. http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=24028&more=1. Retrieved 2010-06-03. 
3. ^ Jeremy Rutherford. "Cory Spinks knocked out in fifth, loses IBF junior middleweight title". stltoday.com. http://www.stltoday.com/sports/other/article_4eb293c6-a294-11df-8788-0017a4a78c22.html. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
4. ^ Cory Spinks's Professional Boxing Record. BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-20.

External links

• http://www.datruthboxing.com
• Cory Spinks Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• Professional boxing record for Cory Spinks from BoxRec

Preceded by Michele Piccirillo	IBF Welterweight Champion March 2, 2003 – February 5, 2005	Succeeded by Zab Judah
Preceded by Ricardo Mayorga	WBC Welterweight Champion WBA Welterweight Super Champion The Ring Welterweight Champion December 13, 2003 – February 5, 2005
Vacant Title last held by Lloyd Honeyghan	Undisputed Welterweight Champion December 13, 2003 – February 5, 2005
Preceded by Roman Karmazin	IBF Junior Middleweight Champion July 8, 2006 – March 27, 2008	Succeeded by Verno Phillips
Vacant Title last held by Verno Phillips	IBF Junior Middleweight Champion April 24, 2009 – August 7, 2010	Succeeded by Cornelius Bundrage

Persondata
Name	Spinks, Cory
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 20, 1978
Place of birth	St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Date of death
Place of death