September 15, 2026: Spinks Kept the Belt. ABC Wanted Ali.

Podcast: bsnsHistory · bsnsBasics

Opublikowano: 2026-09-15

Seven months after losing his title in one of boxing's biggest upsets, Muhammad Ali stepped back into the ring against the man who beat him, and the broadcast deal built around that rematch said everything about who the real draw was. On September 15, 1978, Ali faced reigning heavyweight champion Leon Spinks at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, in a rematch ABC paid a record $5.3 million to broadcast live. Ali won a unanimous decision after fifteen rounds, becoming the first fighter in history to win the heavyweight title three times, while the broadcast itself drew an estimated 90 million...