Terence "Terry" George Spinks MBE (28 February 1938 – 26 April 2012) was a boxer from Great Britain, who won the gold medal in the

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

division (– 51 kg) at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, w ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, Australia. In the final he defeated Mircea Dobrescu of Romania on points. He was also British featherweight champion from 1960 to 1961.

Amateur career

Spinks had 200 amateur fights, and was the 1956 ABA flyweight champion.

1956 Olympic results

*Round of 32: Defeated Samuel Harris (Pakistan) on points *Round of 16: Defeated Abel Laudonio (Argentina) on points *Quarterfinal: Defeated Vladimir Stolnikov (Soviet Union) on points *Semifinal: Defeated René Libeer (France) on points *Final: Defeated Mircea Dobrescu (Romania) on points (won gold medal)

Pro career

Spinks had 49 professional bouts of which he won 41. He had his first professional bout in April 1957, against Jim Loughrey, at Harringay Arena, winning on a stoppage for a cut eye. In September 1960, Spinks fought for the British featherweight title, against the holder

Bobby Neill Bobby Neill (born 10 October 1933)

. The fight was at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, and Spinks won the title when the fight was stopped in the seventh due to cuts suffered by Neil. In November 1960, the two men had a re-match at the Empire Pool,

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

. Spinks retained his new title by knocking Neill down three times in the fourteenth, with him finally being counted out. In May 1961, Spinks defended his title for the second time, against the Welshman,

Howard Winstone Howard Winstone, MBE (15 April 1939 – 30 September 2000) was a Welsh world champion boxer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. As an amateur, Winstone won the Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title in 1958, and a Commonwealth Games Gold M ...

. The fight was at the Empire Pool, and Winstone won by a technical knockout in the tenth round. After losing his title, Spinks continued fighting, but never challenged for a title again. He had his last fight in December 1962 against Johnny Mantle, winning by a technical knockout in the eighth. After his boxing career ended Spinks became a trainer, coaching the South Korean team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. He witnessed the

Black September Black September ( ar, أيلول الأسود; ''Aylūl Al-Aswad''), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was a conflict fought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), under the leadership of King Hussein ...

terrorists approaching the

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

quarters before the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September, who infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two members ...

and raised the alarm.

After boxing

After his boxing career ended, Spinks life took a turn for the worse. He became seriously ill, became a heavy drinker and, in his own words, was living "like a tramp". He was taken in by his cousin in Chadwell Heath where he lived for 19 years until his death.

Honours

He was awarded the MBE in the 2002 New Years Honours List.

Death

Spinks died at his home in

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

on 26 April 2012, after a long illness. More than 200 ex-boxers, including Bobby Neill and several more of Terry's former opponents, attended his funeral at

East London Cemetery The East London Cemetery and Crematorium are located in West Ham in the London Borough of Newham. It is owned and operated by the Dignity Funeral Group. History The cemetery was founded in 1871 and laid out in 1872 to meet the increasing deman ...

. Author and sports historian

Norman Giller Norman Giller (born 18 April 1940, Stepney, East End, London) is an English author, a sports historian and television scriptwriter, who in October 2015 had his 100th book published. His 101st book, ''July 30, 1966 Football's Longest Day'', was pub ...

, his long-time friend, said in the eulogy: "Terry hung up his gloves in 1962 but we have never hung up our memories of one of the most accomplished fighters to come out of the East End boxing factory."

References

External links

databaseOlympics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spinks, Terry 1938 births 2012 deaths Featherweight boxers Flyweight boxers Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Great Britain English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic medalists in boxing British boxing trainers English male boxers Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics People from the London Borough of Newham