Dwight Muhammad Qawi

[Elton John]

I was going thru boxrec and I found out about Qawi. The interesting thing about this guy is that at 5'6" he won the Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight titles and he had a very close fight against Holyfield. Since I've never seen him fight can anybody tell me more about this guy and was he a great fighter and was holyfield fight really that close?

If you want to see intensity, watch the dwarf like Braxton in his face off with Eddie Davis (Nov. 1982) and Saad Muhammud. He chewed up Saad brutally on the inside and nearly had Davis out in the first.

But I don't know what happened in the Spinks fight where he did almost no fighting. I was wondering what would cause him to stop fighting? Could it have been a fix? I think so but that's just my opinion because I see no other explanation for his non-effort.

175 was definitely his best fighting weight but he almost killed Evander at cruiser, putting him in the hospital. I feel like I can write an entire article on that fight "The day Evander almost lost his life". If not for all the illegal substances Holyfield had in him that day, who knows what the outcome might have been?

Anyhow, I'd like to finish by saying that Dwight, even in spite of his physical handicap, pretty much lived up to his potential as a fighter other than the farce with Spinks. winning the title from Saad was a major accomplishment alone.

[Ezzard]

As I saw it Spinks' right hand tamed Dwight and stopped him from rushing in. Once Dwight started thinking twice he was never going to win.

[dempseyfire]

re:qawi/foreman.....dempsey fire....thanks for giving me back some trust in my memory...the way you describe the fight is exactly how i remember it....and although senya's description has a lot of detail, i'll stick to my post based on how i saw it...


....i'm not going to get into the blind discussion except for the following comments....when i was a nightclub comic i worked with a couple of blind jazz musicians.... lots of shows with a blind pianist....and i kept score for the blind bowler's league of which he was a member..that was the one thing they couldn't do. anyway i was around a lot of blind people ....and it is a fallacy that their hearing improves....they just depend on it more, concentrate on it and can do some remarkable things. for example, i'd sometimes ask my blind pianist how many people were in the room. he'd listen for a while and no matter how many he'd usually get it right..and if the crowd was kind of big he'd come within three or four...

now a blind people story...when i had my radio show i had lots of jazz people on..it was a jazz station, and i broadcast from a cocktail lounge or night club, on saturday afternoons. one day i had george, my friend, roland kirk(the name he used then)...a great multi instrument player and the great pianist george shearing....all on at the same time. i was describing over the radio how long it was taking for them to meet and shake hands with each other....they were wandering all over the room, telling customers, waitresses and the bartender how much they admired their music....until finally they all got together. one of my favorite shows.

Great story about the radio show!

[Nile4000]

I've read about what Curtis Parker did to him and Spinks in sparring.Very bad.

What did you read?

That Parker roughed them up pretty good.In Spinks case, I think he was supposed to come back and spar and didn't.Understood that Parker roughed up Thomas Hearns back then too.

[KOJOE90]

As I saw it Spinks' right hand tamed Dwight and stopped him from rushing in. Once Dwight started thinking twice he was never going to win.

That's my take on the fight as well.

The Spinks Jinx.

[markl]

I've read about what Curtis Parker did to him and Spinks in sparring.Very bad.

What did you read?

That Parker roughed them up pretty good.In Spinks case, I think he was supposed to come back and spar and didn't.Understood that Parker roughed up Thomas Hearns back then too.

Never heard that before. I was a fan of parkers. But he was pretty run of the mill. Didn't have much power but had the philly mentality.

I couldn't imagine him roughing up Thomas Hearns or Michael Spinks with a tank. Actually lmao about the spinks one.

[Arbachakov]

Parker had a reputation as a brutal gym fighter.

Just goes to show how meaningless it is really.

[I Feel Fine]

As I saw it Spinks' right hand tamed Dwight and stopped him from rushing in. Once Dwight started thinking twice he was never going to win.

I agree. Also Spinks used good movement. Still a relatively close fight, though Michael was the clear winner.

[elmersalsa]

Great action packed fighter, but too small for the lightheavyweight division. He was only 5'7" but was 7' feet tall of heart.

[markl]

Great action packed fighter, but too small for the lightheavyweight division. He was only 5'7" but was 7' feet tall of heart.

If he was too small why did he win a title and then move up in weight to win another one?

[granberry]

I likened him to sort of a compact Joe Frazier that favored the right over the left. Great action figther win or lose he gave it all everytime out.

Yeah,

he really gave it his "all" against Spinks.

When Spinks did his best to collapse all by himself halfway through the fight, Braxton did nothing to help him.

Whenever they got in close, Braxton did nothing even though that was his chance since he was almost a foot shorter.

That was the LAST fight I took seriously beforehand.

Braxton's performance stunk to high heavens.

Yeah, he sure gave his "all" in that fight.

A sorry exhibition for a lightheavyweight title fight,

as compared with Johnson-Moore

Johnson-Doug Jones

Conn-Bettina

Carpentier-Levinsky

Delaney-Berlenbach

Loughran-Braddock

Loughran-Lomski

Loughran-McTigue

Loughran-Walker

etc etc

[BoxBuzz]

I likened him to sort of a compact Joe Frazier that favored the right over the left. Great action figther win or lose he gave it all everytime out.

Yeah,

he really gave it his "all" against Spinks.

When Spinks did his best to collapse all by himself halfway through the fight, Braxton did nothing to help him.

Whenever they got in close, Braxton did nothing even though that was his chance since he was almost a foot shorter.

That was the LAST fight I took seriously beforehand.

Braxton's performance stunk to high heavens.

Yeah, he sure gave his "all" in that fight.

A sorry exhibition for a lightheavyweight title fight,

as compared with Johnson-Moore

Johnson-Doug Jones

Conn-Bettina

Carpentier-Levinsky

Delaney-Berlenbach

Loughran-Braddock

Loughran-Lomski

Loughran-McTigue

Loughran-Walker

etc etc

I knew likening him to Joe would get your scorn. But watch him fight.....he echoes (perhaps mirrors is a better word right/left wise) Frazier's style on many occasions. I think attitude and energy level were similar as well.

However he probably could have handled Jumbo Cummings. But like Joe and most any active fighter.... he would have an off night now and then.

[Ambling Alp]

Qawi was a heck of a fighter. He was an aggressive fighter who was very difficult to handle. He beat a lot of good fighters including Rossman,Scott,Martin, and of course Saad Muhammad. It would have been a great fight between him and Eddie Mustapha Muhammad.
You could make a serious case that Qawi was one of the top 10 lightheavyweights of all time. He was that good.

[Ezzard]

I do have to agree with Granberry in that Qawi's performance was tame in the Spinks fight. It was not what we had come to expect from him. In many ways he gave Holyfield more troubole than Spinks.

[Seamus]

I think that's the general consensus about the Qawi v Spinks fight. Qawi wasen't horrible, but he didn't turn in the kind of performance we came to expect either. Especially since he did alot of trash talking prior to bout in repeatedly calling Spinks "Michael Stinks" and predicting a KO because Spinks was made for him "I can see his ribs, that's all I gotta see".

[markl]

He wasn't his normal self but he was facing a fighter that was far from normal. Spinks boxed brilliantly that night. Used a lot more lateral movement then usual and the size caught up to Qawi.

The comparison to Frazier is valid. Qawi had an infinitely better defense and Joe was a bigger puncher. But it can't be argued that they were not similar in their approach.

[Ambling Alp]

It's always an interesting question when a normally really good fighter doesn't look as good as usual: Is he having an off night, or is he fighting a really good opponent who has the ability and style to make him look not so good? Sometimes it's a little of both.

[markl]

Everyone always says styles make fights. But they rarely ever take it into account when giving analysis.

Spinks was a huge Lt Heavyweight with really odd movements. He also had serious one punch power. All of the guys thjat Qawi excelled against were stationary sluggers.

He ducked under their shots and battered them inside. Spinks was out of there and the size was too much imo.

You're spot on. People are so quick to shit on the loser instead of giving credit where it is due.

Spinks was the best Lt Heavy I ever saw and he matches up favorably with anyone this side of Ezzard imo.

[I Feel Fine]

However he probably could have handled Jumbo Cummings. But like Joe and most any active fighter.... he would have an off night now and then.

I'm a little confused by this boxbuzz. Are you saying Qawi would beat Cummings as a way to say he's better than Frazier? Frazier was shot against Cummings, in his prime he would ruin Cummings. Just curious what you meant by this.

And I agree about the styles in Spinks-Qawi. Spinks was a lot different from fighters like Saad.

[Seamus]

Markl

I have to disagree with your assessment of Michael Spinks somewhat. He didn't have great one punch power, instead he almost always took his opponents out with flurries of punches. On the positive side, Spinks had a GREAT chin at LHW and tremendous stamina, in fact he was one of the best conditioned boxers in the World during his career. On the downside, at LHW his defense was poor to avg at best, and while I couldn't say his hands were slow, he was nowhere close to the fastest LHW's.

[Jaclem]

...ifeelfine.....relax.....it is b oxbuzzys goal in life to confuse those on this forum.....sometimes he even confuses himself...

[markl]

Markl

I have to disagree with your assessment of Michael Spinks somewhat. He didn't have great one punch power, instead he almost always took his opponents out with flurries of punches. On the positive side, Spinks had a GREAT chin at LHW and tremendous stamina, in fact he was one of the best conditioned boxers in the World during his career. On the downside, at LHW his defense was poor to avg at best, and while I couldn't say his hands were slow, he was nowhere close to the fastest LHW's.

He was never a defensive genius. But to say it was weak is selling him short. He faced top flight competition and starched Marvin johnson(not a great chin) and Yacqui Lopez with single punches.

LOL......the spinks jinx wasn't a flurry. Eddie Davis was the only fighter close to beating him at Light Heavyweight.

[bollox]

A recent looking pic of Qawi. I wonder who the other guy is

[I Feel Fine]

A recent looking pic of Qawi. I wonder who the other guy is

I wish they had fought. If he had ever moved up Hagler wouldn't have beaten Spinks, but a fight with Qawi would have been great.

[bollox]

Agreed, Hagler would not have beaten Spinks (way too big). Not sure about a Qawi fight, althouth I suspect Hagler was too small naturally to take on too many top LHW's

After KOing Hearns Tommy went into Hagler's dressing room to congratulate him. He said "you move up to take on the LHW's and I'll take care of the middleweighs". Hagler replied "you move up"