From Leon Spinks to Muhammad Ali: Bygone boxing days of Hilton Head packed a punch

“In Washington, D.C., during the 1970s, a black man could get into the newspapers in one of two ways: crime—or boxing.”

Such begins the synopsis for boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard’s 2012 autobiography, written along with Micheal Arkush.

Before football and basketball became the dominant sports featured on American TV screens, sports fans in the burgeoning town of Hilton Head would tune in to watch men trade jabs in the boxing ring, their sweat glistening in the limelight as they tried to anticipate and counter their opponent’s next move.

On a few brief occasions, fans on Hilton Head didn’t have to turn on their TVs or travel far to see the action live and up-close. Legendary boxers such as “Sugar” Ray Leonard, “Iron Mike” Tyson, and Muhammad Ali all crossed the MacKay Creek at some point to the glee of fans.

For those not lucky enough to have lived in Hilton Head Island in the boxing heydays, those moments are captured forever in The Island Packet archives. Here are their stories.

Table of Contents

“Neon” Leon Spinks (1953 – 2021)

Trainer Sam Soloman tapes Leon Spinks’ million dollar hands at his Hilton Head training camp in July 1978. The heavyweight champion rose to fame after defeating reigning champ Muhammad Ali, but lost to Ali in a subsequent rematch.

The summer after beating reigning heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in Las Vegas, Nevada, “Neon” Leon Spinks rented a rehearsal room at the Hilton Head Community Playhouse to train for a rematch.

But unlike the many boxers that visit the island in later years, this gap-toothed star was scarcely seen in the ring, if at all.

When Spinks’ entourage arrived on Hilton Head on June 2, 1978, the man of the hour wasn’t with them. By June 13, no one could say where Spinks was. Reporters from as far away as England “waited in vain” for his arrival.

Finally, some news came on June 15 — workers from local clubs had seen Spinks “out on the town” the Friday before, drinking and dancing at local joints such as Suzettes and the Ribbett Room. He reportedly left the very next day to check on his brother Micheal, who was arrested at the St. Louis airport after allegedly getting into a scuffle with police officers.

Spinks’ eventual journey back to Hilton Head was marked by its own scrape with the law.

Island Packet reports noted Spinks was wearing “a black hat studded with diamond-like jewels” and “numerous rings” when he was stopped for speeding on Pinckney Island by South Carolina Highway Patrol. His ticket was $15.

Heavyweight champion Leon Spinks flashes diamonds as he gives autographs to a fan at his Hilton Head training camp in July 1978.

“Most of the time Leon was gone,” reflected David Lauderdale in a 1987 column. “For days on end, no one knew of his whereabouts. From time to time, however, reports would surface that a distinctive blue Ford van had been spotted somewhere up or down the coast. More often than not, Leon himself was at the wheel.”

After leaving, a $1000 check for partial payment of room rental bounced, The Packet reported. It finally cleared 10 days later.

He went on to lose the rematch against Ali in September. Bill Dunnagan, director of the theater at the time, told The Packet the ring was only used a few afternoons during Spinks’ stay.

“The champ himself worked out only once, for the benefit of television cameras,” The Packet reported.

Sugar Ray Leonard (1956 – present)

Sugar Ray Leonard photographed during a 1987 training session on Hilton Head Island.

Sugar Ray Leonard reportedly never trained for a fight in the same place twice. That is, until he came to Hilton Head Island.

Leonard’s first trip to Hilton Head in 1987 drew reporters from as far as France. It was a public affair: his camp at the old Hotel Intercontinental (now The Westin) was open to the public every weekday, drawing crowds of schoolchildren on more than one occasion.

Sugar Ray Leonard skips rope during a 1987 training session on Hilton Head Island.

News followed Leonard everywhere. He spent one Sunday talking to kids at the Mount Cavalry Baptist Church, stressing the importance of a drug-free and alcohol-free life. Another weekend, he took his group bowling at the Ribaut Bowling Center in Beaufort, to the joy of several hundred onlookers. One morning, a CNN film crew trying to capture some footage of Leonard jogging on the beach got stuck in the sand. The tide came in, swallowing their rental van.

A rental van operated by a CNN film crew hoping to get some footage of Sugar Ray Leonard jogging on the beach was stuck in the sand and swallowed by the ocean before it could be pulled out on February 18, 1987.

His strenuous training paid off: that April, Leonard emerged victorious in a fight against “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler at Ceasers Palace in Last Vegas. 300 million people watched the fight worldwide.

Leonard returned to Hilton Head a second time in 1989, this time to prepare for a rematch against Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran. The Panamanian boxer famously forfeited against Leonard in 1980, uttering two of the most famous words in sports history, “No más.”

This time, though, there were no school visits, and public appearances were rare. He went to church on Sundays, and was re-baptized by Rev. Ben Williams in a heated pool outside his rented home in Palmetto Dunes. Refreshed by his island stay, Leonard once again emerged victorious in the “Uno Más” fight against Duran.

As for why he chose to return to Hilton Head a second time, Leonard cited Hilton Head’s peaceful atmosphere.

“I need to get to a place more serene and tranquil,” Leonard told The Packet in 1989.

Mike Tyson (1966 – Present)

Mike Tyson, wearing longjohns, gets his hands wrapped before working out at a tent near the old Hyatt Regency on Hilton Head on June 7, 1989.

For three days in the summer of 1989, “Iron Mike” trained in a green and white tent pitched in a parking lot adjacent to the Hyatt Regency in Palmetto Dunes.

His crew borrowed mats from the Island Recreation Center. The tent was fully furnished with a sparring ring, a jump rope platform, punching bags, and about 100 chairs for spectators.

“The temperature inside the sealed-off tent topped 100 degrees as about 150 onlookers gawked at the man said to possess the hardest punch in the business,” wrote Packet reporter Meri-Jo Borzilleri in a June 8, 1989 article.

A month later, he would defeat Carl “The Truth” Williams in only 93 seconds.

“Smokin’” Joe Frazier (1944 – 2011)

Muhammad Ali, left, points at challenger Joe Frazier on July 17, 1975. Even after his rise to fame, the Beaufort native never forgot his roots.

Long before the world watched Joe Frazier sock Muhammad Ali in the face with his signature left hook, boxing great “Smokin’ Joe” was reportedly getting into fights with other kids in his hometown in Beaufort County.

Frazier grew up on his family’s 10-acre farm Laurel Bay, a little community about 10 miles west of the city of Beaufort. He spent his early days picking tomatoes and okra with his older brothers and sisters, and practiced boxing on a homemade punching bag stuffed with rags, corncobs, and Spanish moss, local barber Ken Singleton recalled in a 2011 tribute.

At the age of 16, Frazier hopped on a bus to Philadelphia and started a new life. But he “never forgot his roots,” The Beaufort Gazette wrote in 2011.

The boxing champion came back to visit his hometown frequently, dropping by the local barbershop for a haircut, signing autographs and taking pictures with local children.

After beating Ali in the “Fight of the Century,” Frazier purchased the Brewton Plantation in Yemassee, SC, for his mother Dolly Jones, later selling it for three times its original value.

Frazier died at the age of 67 of liver cancer. Although locals hoped he would be buried close to home in Beaufort, he was laid to rest in Philadelphia, PA.

Muhammad Ali (1942 – 2016)

In this Feb. 8, 1962, file photo, young fighter Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) is seen at City Parks Gym in New York.

Boxer, poet, and social activist Muhammad Ali is, without a doubt, the most well-known figure in boxing history. Unlike Leonard and Spinks, “The Greatest” never trained on the island, but he was a frequent visitor after his boxing days.

The former heavyweight champion slipped quietly in and out of Hilton Head Island to seek treatment for ailments that included muscle weakness, slurred speech, and extreme fatigue. Locals occasionally spotted him on his morning jog, and at one point, he caused a summer traffic jam while shadowboxing on the side of William Hilton Parkway.

His doctor, Rajko Medenica, was a controversial Yugoslavian cancer specialist who established his practice at Hilton Head Hospital in 1986 and drew patients from around the globe.

Other doctors around the world believed Ali may have Parkinson’s disease, The Packet reported in 1988. Dr. Medenica, however, diagnosed Ali with “a rare disorder caused by toxins present in the blood from contact with pesticides,” dubbing the disease “Muhammad Ali Syndrome.”

Muhammad Alipictured with his doctor Rajko Medenica at Hilton Head Hospital on Aug. 24, 1988. The controversial Yugoslavian physician was convicted on charges of fraud and falsification of documents by a jury in Switzerland.

In May 1989, a Swiss jury convicted Medenica on charges of fraud and falsification of documents stemming from his former practice in Geneva. Although Medenica was not present for the trail, Ali traveled across the Atlantic to testify on his doctor’s behalf. An Associated Press report published in The Packet reads:

“Muhammad Ali, marked by debilitation but saying he feels good, testified at a Swiss fraud trial Tuesday to praise a Hilton Head Island doctor whose treatment he credits with improving his life,” wrote Associated Press writer Tony Czuczka in a 1989 report. “The 47-year-old former world heavyweight champion walked stiffly and could barely be heard giving testimony in the trial.”

Mike Cohen

Local boxer Mike Cohen yearned for greatness.

His father, Gullah native Thomas Cohen, found his passion for boxing while serving in the U.S. army. He built a cinder block boxing gym on Spanish Wells road and trained his five sons there every day, as well as countless other island boys.

Before Leon Spinks’ visit to the island, the old gym had no roof.

“The room has a punching bag, a speed bag, and a homemade ring beneath a sagging string of lights and a few church pews,” Packet reporter David Lauderdale wrote in a 1978 article. “The carpet in the ring was soggy last Thursday.”

Cohen hoped Spinks would train at his club and drum up some press attention for his facility. But as famous boxers came and went, they chose more pristine hotels to set up camp instead.

Middleweights “Cat” McCarroll Frazier (left) takes a blow from Mike Singletary at Thomas Cohen’s cinderblock gym in July 1981.

His oldest son, Mike “The Hammer” Cohen, itched for a shot at success. He had reportedly been scheduled to fight former WBA world champion James “Bonecrusher” Smith in Atlantic City in July 1988, but told The Packet that Smith canceled on him.

At six feet and 220 pounds, Cohen hoped to get a chance to take on heavyweight champs such as George Foreman and Mike Tyson after knocking out Smith. The opportunity never came.

“I’m not going to stop,” Mike Cohen told The Packet in 1988. “I’m going to keep on training.”

The old boxing gym on Spanish Wells road is long gone. After Thomas Cohen’s death in 1991, the roof eventually burned. Hurricane Matthew destroyed three of its cinderblock walls in 2016, The Packet reported.

The empty cement lot on that stands in its place is now the parking spot for a Jamaican food truck.