Leon Spinks

I was watching an Ali documentary and what struck me was how 'simple' Leon was/is. I've heard him before and assumed his behaviour and speech was down to damage sustained in the ring but I saw interviews with him after his first Ali fight and he doesn't appear all there and if I saw someone else I would say they were mentally disabled in some way.

What was the perception of him at the time and did he have other issues?

Drugs have contributed to Leon's decline plus he never was that bright to begin with

Maybe Neon Leon was a bit similar to Benitez in that respect. Obviously the punishment he took in his career, along with the high style of living he had, has contributed to Benitez’s sorry state today, but there are many close to him who maintain that he showed signs of mental retardation even as a youngster and was arguably unwell in that respect long before he’d made it to the top level in the ring. Granted, he was still a very young man during the best years of his career, but there’s plenty of stories about how shocked some of his opponents or boxing presenters of the time were when they met Benitez and saw how child-like he was (there’s one about Cossell being unable to get a pre-fight interview between Leonard and Benitez going because Benitez kept shouting out stuff about dragons and saying he wanted to play a game about them, or something along those lines).

Always hard to be sure, as some people for whatever reason just can’t get their personalities across properly when they’re on camera or in crowds, but as you say Leon couldn’t have been more different to his brother Mike in terms of how they came across in that respect.

I have always found it astonishing the contrast between the two brothers

Think you're confusing Leon Spinks and Li Yung Spinks Michael's "other brother from another mother"