Michael Spinks

Spinks did not have an easy childhood. His family lived in the infamous northern St. Louis Pruitt-Igoe housing project, which was condemned and demolished in 1976. The area was rough, full of gangs and murders, and the Spinks children suffered from frequent bullying. Spinks's older brother Leon was often attacked on the streets, and in 1969 he started learning to box at a neighborhood gym, the Capri, to be able to defend himself. Soon, at Leon's urging, Spinks started boxing there, too.

From a young age, Spinks was the man of the house: his father abandoned the family when Spinks was four, and his older brother Leon was not as responsible as Spinks. Their mother, Kay, was by all accounts a remarkable woman, an ordained minister who did her best to provide for the family of eight (herself, six sons, and one daughter). Spinks helped as well, selling newspapers and getting positions as newsboys for two of his younger brothers. As a teenager, Spinks also brought in some money by boxing. Capri coach Jim Merrill sent some of his boxers, including Spinks, on trips to attend tournaments. The young boxers were given five dollars a day for their meals, but many of them saved up their money instead. The fact that they had to go home and stop receiving money if they lost was a powerful incentive for these young men to win.