Startling information obtained exclusively by RadarOnline.com has revealed boxing legend Muhammad Ali took a dive in his 1978 title bout with Leon Spinks — to set up a massive $50 million rematch!
“I fought Ali twice and we never hit each other in either fight,” Leon Spinks allegedly admitted to former pro wrestler, Larry Cory.
According to Cory, “Neon Leon” made the bombshell admission when he worked as a celebrity referee at a Midwestern wrestling card in 1994.
“Leon and I were talking about how wrestling was fake and boxing was real — and Leon said, ‘It’s not as real as you think,’” Cory exclusively told RadarOnline.com.
Cory came forward with the new information after a shocking FBI investigation into Ali — who died at age 74 last June — exposed suspicions “The Champ” had fixed fights.
According to Spinks, promoters at Top Rank Inc. — co-founded by Ali’s manager, the late Jabir Herbert Muhammad — told him that he’d be rewarded handsomely for agreeing to the “fix,” Cory told RadarOnline.com.
Spinks said the promoters told him: “You’re going to fight Ali for the championship and you are going to win. And you are going to give him a rematch — and you are going to lose!” according to Cory.
Cory’s story matches up with FBI documents that describe an identical scenario.
According to the FBI report, “Top Rank Inc. … planned to induce Muhammad Ali to throw the 2/15/78 fight with Spinks, as well as a possibility of inducing Spinks to throw a subsequent match with Ali.”
The first match between the two in Las Vegas attracted just 5,278 fans.
But the rematch on Sept. 15 later that year drew 63,350 fans to the Superdome in New Orleans — along with a huge payoff from ABC to carry the fight on TV!
Although Spinks declined a request for comment, his wife at the time, Nova Malikah Spinks, vouched for Cory’s claims, and said she’d witnessed “several” top fighters, including late heavyweight champ Joe Frazier, urging Leon to accept the “fix.”
“The gist of the conversation was that Ali would give him a break when he didn’t have to – we’re talking about the first fight – and that Leon should let Ali win and go out on top,” Nova told RadarOnline.com.
“They told Leon he should be grateful.”
