Having his famous father and uncle working the corner was no help to Cory Spinks, who lost his IBF light middleweight title to Verno Phillips in a 12-round split decision on Thursday.
The 30-year-old Spinks (36-5) has lost his past two fights. This defeat came a few weeks after a split with longtime trainer and manager Kevin Cunningham, and despite moral support from Leon Spinks and Michael Spinks, Cory's father and uncle and both former heavyweight champions.
"I felt good, just a little rusty, that's all," Spinks said of his first fight in 10 months. "I'm upset with myself. I let myself down."
PHOTO: AP
Spinks said the layoff was too much to overcome and that he ended up going toe-to-toe as a result.
"I was trying to give the fans a little excitement," he said. "I should have just boxed, but it was also the rust."
"I felt like I could just get myself out of the way, but that wasn't the case and he caught me with some shots I shouldn't have gotten hit with," he said.
Michael Spinks thought his nephew had won the fight.
"Being the champ, I thought Cory was going to get the decision," he said. "I thought it was going Cory's way."
Cory Spinks, the former undisputed welterweight champion, hopes to get back into the ring soon.
"I will get my titles back," he said. "I'm a still a champ. I will still succeed."
The fight was Spinks' third in his hometown and perhaps his last, given the lackluster attendance of 8,874, including thousands of free tickets. His first fight in 2005 sold out the 22,000-seat Scottrade Center.
"I felt like his people were booing him because he didn't bring it," Phillips said.
The 38-year-old Phillips (42-11-1) had held the IBF light middle belt in 2004, winning the vacant title by defeating Carlos Bojorquez before losing it to Kassim Ouma.
Unlike Spinks, Phillips overcame a layoff -- it was his first fight in 13 months.
Cunningham's focus now is on unbeaten Devon Alexander (15-0), the aggressor throughout his 12-round unanimous decision over Miguel Callist of Panama on the undercard, taking the WBC's Continental Americas light welterweight title.
Alexander knocked down the 33-year-old Callist (24-7-1) in the final round and had him in full retreat by the end of the fight.
The 21-year-old Alexander said he wants to fight for a world title by the end of the year.
"St Louis has a new champion," he said. "And I'm going to stay around."
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS