Editing Michael Spinks (section)

==Hiatus==
With the Olympics behind him, Spinks returned to work at a chemical factory in [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], "scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets," as one source tells it. He had no big contracts awaiting him and, while Michael appeared to experts to be the more promising of the two brothers, Leon was at that time the big shooting star, a television staple of [[ABC Sports]], on his way to a shot at heavyweight champion [[Muhammad Ali]]. Michael had their mother to care for, and he was intent on helping Leon prepare for Ali. All of this pushed Michael's career to the back burner. It was [[Butch Lewis]] in 1977 who convinced Michael to turn professional.<ref name="Spinks Jinx"/><ref>Oates, Joyce Carol, & [[John Ranard]], ''On Boxing'' (HarperCollins Publishers, 1987, 1995, 2006), p. 34</ref><ref>Lotierzo, Frank J., "Michael Spinks: A Real Champion" ''Viewing Boxing From Ringside'', Tom Donelson, Editor (Writers Club Press, 2002), pgs. 111-12</ref>