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Johnny Kline is pictured with Leon Spinks at Caberfae in 1981. Kline trained with Spinks both times he came to the Cadillac area.
courtesy photo
Cadillac resident Daniel Valley inherited this corner stool from his mother, who worked at Caberfae at the time Leon Spinks trained there. When Spinks departed the area, his team left all his boxing gear, including the stool.
courtesy photo
CADILLAC â While Leon Spinksâ visit to the Cadillac area four decades ago was fleeting, the impression he left on area residents will last a lifetime. A week after the Cadillac News published an article detailing how Spinks trained for two boxing matches at Caberfae Ski Resort in 1979 and 1981, people are still coming forward with stories about the former heavyweight champion. I remember when the boxing ring was set up in the Big Star Cafeteria, said Cadillac resident Daniel Valley. My mother ran the gift shop at that time. It was located in the same build
CADILLAC â For a sliver of time in the late 70s and early 80s, Caberfae Ski Resort looked a little like the boxing movie âRocky IV,â where franchise hero Rocky Balboa secludes himself somewhere in the frigid north to prepare for his upcoming bout with the Russian powerhouse Ivan Drago.
Cadillacâs real-life version of Rocky Balboa was Leon Spinks, who in 1978 shocked the boxing world by defeating the legendary Muhammad Ali to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Spinks, 67, died on Saturday.
In the spring of 1979, Spinks had just lost the title to Ali after holding it only a few months. His next bout was with the South African Gerrie Coetzee.