Former heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks, diagnosed with prostate cancer in June, has undergone three rounds of chemotherapy that failed to prevent the spread of the disease to his bones.
Doctors placed him on a ventilator in November, giving the 66-year-old, who also suffers from dementia, just two weeks to live. But his defiance of those odds clearly demonstrates his resilience, his wife Brenda said.
“He’s a champion, he’s going to keep fighting,” she told USA Today, adding that Spinks has lost 80 pounds over the past year and has been prescribed medical marijuana to improve his mood and get along with those providing care.
Spinks shocked the world in 1978 by defeating Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship.