City Hall had a knockout visitor on Wednesday: Leon Spinks, patriarch of St. Louis’ first family of boxing.

The man who defeated Muhammad Ali in 1978 kept a low-profile, wearing a letterman-style jacket and Marine Corps. cap while hanging out with Alderman Sam Moore in the Leisure Room.

Spinks stopped by City Hall after training with his son, welterweight champ Cory Spinks, who had been working out at the Gamble Rec Center in JeffVanderLou. The younger Spinks is preparing for a title fight at the Scottrade Center later this month.

Support for the Spinks family, and other St. Louis boxers, runs deep at City Hall. On Wednesday, Moore was decked out in Cory Spinks ring gear: a t-shirt featuring the southpaw and a “Next Generation” jumpsuit.

But Moore’s not the only fight fan on the Board of Aldermen. Alderman Dorothy Kirner is a certified amateur boxing judge. Alderman Kathleen Hanrahan used to run the Marquette Rec Center, where Spinks has also trained.

Last year, another Arch pugilist, Devon Alexander, helped out Lewis Reed’s campaign for board president: Alexander’s entourage wore “Reed for President” shirts into the ring during a fight that was aired nationally on Showtime.

On March 27, Spinks will share a card with Alexander in an event promoter Don King called “the best of the old and the best of the new.”

“And the best part of all,” King said in a February news conference, “is it’s taking place in ‘The Lou.’”

Leon Spinks in his 1978 victory over Muhammad Ali

Leon with his son Cory, who was born less than a week after the Ali fight