Best fighters who changed their name to Muhammad

[davie]

I never knew so many fighters from the 70s and 80s changed their names to Muhammad, presumably following Mr Ali and I'd assume, for religious reasons.
Matthew Saad Muhammad (Maxwell Antonio Loach), Dwight Muhammad Qawi (Dwight Braxton), Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (Edward Lee Gregory)
Are there any more I've not spotted?

Anyway, how would you rank them, in order (obviously excluding Ali)?
I hadn't seen them fight, but looking at the records, they've all fought for and won/lost world titles, they've fought each other,
Matthew Saad Mohammad having lost all 3 bouts against the other 2, he also has 2 wins over John Conteh, a Ring fight of the year winner in 1980 and a 9 fight unbeaten run as WBC light middleweight champion
Dwight Muhammad Qawi has the 2 wins against the afforementioned, 6 world title wins at 2 divisions and faced Leon & Michael Spinks, Evander Holyfield x 2 and George Foreman
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad beat Matthew Sadd Mohammad, won 3 world title fights as well as challenging for 2 others and also has Michael Spinks on his record

So who was the best? Discuss

[Ambling Alp II]

Saad Muhammad (Who was much better known as Mathew Franklin than as Maxwell Loach) is my favorite of the three. He seemed like a good guy and was in several great fights.

Saad didn't have a lot of defense but was an exciting fighter with a lot of heart.
Qawi was a tremendous pressure fighter. He was short but would just keep coming and coming.
Mustafa was the best pure boxer of the three, but could also go toe to toe.

davie- If you haven't seen them fight, check them out on youtube. They all have several fights that you can watch.

Saaad was in a lot of exciting ones, but probably the best was his title fight against Yaqui Lopez. For pure excitement, one of the best fights you will ever see. His 2nd fight vs Marvin Johnson (When he was still known as Mathew Franklin) for the title was great also.

Qawi looked great in several fights as well. The first Holyfield fight for the cruiserweight title is probably the best fight. He had other fights that he was dominant (vs Saad and "Jerry The Bull" Martin for example.)

Mustafa best might be his fight with Marvin Johnson. (He was known as Eddie Gregory at the time.)

You are in for a treat watching these fights. The light heavyweight division was loaded in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

As far as ranking them, I would have Qawi a little a head of Mustafa Muhammad, and Mustafa a little ahead of Saad Muhammad.

[davie]

Saad Muhammad (Who was much better known as Mathew Franklin than as Maxwell Loach) is my favorite of the three. He seemed like a good guy and was in several great fights.

Saad didn't have a lot of defense but was an exciting fighter with a lot of heart.
Qawi was a tremendous pressure fighter. He was short but would just keep coming and coming.
Mustafa was the best pure boxer of the three, but could also go toe to toe.

davie- If you haven't seen them fight, check them out on youtube. They all have several fights that you can watch.

Saaad was in a lot of exciting ones, but probably the best was his title fight against Yaqui Lopez. For pure excitement, one of the best fights you will ever see. His 2nd fight vs Marvin Johnson (When he was still known as Mathew Franklin) for the title was great also.

Qawi looked great in several fights as well. The first Holyfield fight for the cruiserweight title is probably the best fight. He had other fights that he was dominant (vs Saad and "Jerry The Bull" Martin for example.)

Mustafa best might be his fight with Marvin Johnson. (He was known as Eddie Gregory at the time.)

You are in for a treat watching these fights. The light heavyweight division was loaded in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

As far as ranking them, I would have Qawi a little a head of Mustafa Muhammad, and Mustafa a little ahead of Saad Muhammad.

I had actually watched the Qawi Holyfield fight the other night and checking out the records of the fighters, that's what got me thinking about the OP topic.
So 1. Qawi, 2. Mustafa, 3. Saad.
It's funny, because looking at record alone (i know, not always the best way to guage fighters you've never watched) Matthew Saad had arguably the best looking resume apart from the losses to the other 2 Muhammads
I'm away to watch the Yaqui Lopez FOTY

[Dancin' Dan]

Era in our country of the crazy ass Nation of Islam. The guys who murdered their own leader and led a lot of people astray. Have a good buddy raised by a mom in the "nation". She is still calling for race wars. Muhammad Ali. Love him but they used him and murdered his friend Malcolm X. Glad there aren't as many now....

[Ambling Alp II]

Saad Muhammad (Who was much better known as Mathew Franklin than as Maxwell Loach) is my favorite of the three. He seemed like a good guy and was in several great fights.

Saad didn't have a lot of defense but was an exciting fighter with a lot of heart.
Qawi was a tremendous pressure fighter. He was short but would just keep coming and coming.
Mustafa was the best pure boxer of the three, but could also go toe to toe.

davie- If you haven't seen them fight, check them out on youtube. They all have several fights that you can watch.

Saaad was in a lot of exciting ones, but probably the best was his title fight against Yaqui Lopez. For pure excitement, one of the best fights you will ever see. His 2nd fight vs Marvin Johnson (When he was still known as Mathew Franklin) for the title was great also.

Qawi looked great in several fights as well. The first Holyfield fight for the cruiserweight title is probably the best fight. He had other fights that he was dominant (vs Saad and "Jerry The Bull" Martin for example.)

Mustafa best might be his fight with Marvin Johnson. (He was known as Eddie Gregory at the time.)

You are in for a treat watching these fights. The light heavyweight division was loaded in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

As far as ranking them, I would have Qawi a little a head of Mustafa Muhammad, and Mustafa a little ahead of Saad Muhammad.

I had actually watched the Qawi Holyfield fight the other night and checking out the records of the fighters, that's what got me thinking about the OP topic.
So 1. Qawi, 2. Mustafa, 3. Saad.
It's funny, because looking at record alone (i know, not always the best way to guage fighters you've never watched) Matthew Saad had arguably the best looking resume apart from the losses to the other 2 Muhammads
I'm away to watch the Yaqui Lopez FOTY

You will love that fight!

Saad did have the most title defenses of the three. However, Qawi and Mustafa each could have had several more than they did if Michael Spinks had not came along. Saad did not have as impressive of a record before winning the title as Qawi and Mustafa did.

I loved watching the Saad though. He was in so many really good fights. There so many good light heavyweights around that time that it made for some compelling fights. Victor Galindez and Marvin Johnson won titles. However there some really good contenders like Lopez, Jerry Martin, James Scott, Richie Kates, Murray Sutherland etc.

[misterpunch]

gotta like saad Muhammad - great fella, what a life - respect