BoxRec

Facing Greatness: Dwight Qawi Recalls Boxing George Foreman
http://spam.com/2016/12/14/faci ... e-foreman/


By Scoop Malinowski

Just three months after losing the Holyfield rematch, Dwight Muhammad Qawi was offered on short notice the chance to fight George Foreman on March 19, 1988 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. It was the eighth bout of Foreman’s boxing comeback which began in March 1987 with a TKO 4 over Steve Zouski.
Qawi (28-5-1) accepted and boxed the much bigger former and future Heavyweight champion Foreman (52-2), who was coming off seven straight wins over Zouski, Charles Hostetter, Bobby Crabtree, Tim Anderson, Rocky Sekorski, Tom Trimm and Guido Trane. Here are Qawi’s memories of actually being in the ring with and competing with Big George Foreman…
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Question: What are your standout memories from the Foreman fight?

Dwight Muhammad Qawi: “First of all, I took him on two-and-a-half weeks notice. Bob Arum was bringing George back. Getting him ready for Mike (Tyson) at the time. So I guess I was short, built like Mike, movement, when they called with $50,000, I took it.”
Question: Were you in shape for that fight?
Qawi: “Not really. Not really. I was overweight, embarrassed. I had to lose the weight, as a matter of fact, I went on a liquid diet to lose the weight. I was so embarrassed, to get in the ring looking like that. I just had to lose the weight real quick. I was depressed when they called me. I wasn’t ready to go back in the ring real quick. So when they called me I was in the middle of everything, not sure what to do.”
Question: Did you have any success vs. Foreman?
Qawi: “Yeah for the first four rounds I thought I had him going. I thought I was winning. The judges had it 4-3. I thought I had more rounds.”
Question: What punch combinations/tactics were successful against him?
Qawi: “Well, the right hand. The lead right hand kept hitting him. I would roll out on him. When he stuck the hand out to lean on you, I let him touch me and I rolled out. The hand is still out there and I’d get on the side of him and I’d turn and I hit him. Because when you’re going like that he’s not going to jump back. He’d just turn and I hit him. I just got tired. If I had more energy and I was more courageous and more imaginative, and I think he was looking for that first punch, he was respectful of my punch, the rest of the fight. That’s the strategy. When they’re in with a puncher like that, he thinks I’m wild, so he’s not so bold.”
Question: How do you think Tyson would have done with Foreman if they would have fought back then?
Qawi: “If Mike is on top of his game it would have been a helluva fight. I just watched Foreman fight Ron Lyle, they went down six, seven times. So Foreman could take a punch. I could see Mike hitting him. It could be one of those fights you don’t even want to think about. Seriously. That would be a lot of firepower.”
Question: What did Foreman’s power feel like?
Qawi: “It wasn’t sharp. It was a thump. Thumping. He didn’t hit me with that much clean. But it was like, heavy. Heavy. You have the sharp punch, then you have the thumping punch. It was mostly like that. That’s how he came back. He was smart coming back. He deserved the win and the accolades he got. So I did good with him.”
The former WBC Light Heavyweight and WBA Cruiserweight champion, Qawi ran out of gas and was stopped by TKO in the seventh round by Foreman. His career slowed after that, losing to Robert Daniels, Mike Hunter, Arthur Williams, Nate Miller and his final pro fight was in 1998, a points loss to Tony LaRosa in Chicago.
After defeating Qawi, Foreman went back to work and had 11 more bouts before taking his first major test against Gerry Cooney in Atlantic City in 1990. Foreman stopped the favored Cooney by TKO 2 and eventually got a title shot against Evander Holyfield in 1991. Foreman lost on points to Holyfield but made history defeating Michael Moorer in 1994 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to become the oldest man to win the world Heavyweight title, at age 45, a record that appears unbreakable.
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I give Dwight Muhammad Qawi aka Dwight Braxton a lot of credit. He had a lot of heart and determination. He was only 5'7". It makes me wonder how the great Sam Langford fought bigger men like 6'4" , 220lbs Harry Wills for example. That was a huge disadvantage.

Big George was too big for him. That was the bottom line. He was slow in his comeback fights and beyond, but, he was already 6'3" and about 250-plus pounds. Too much for Qawi to overcome. Well, at least he got $50,000 dollars.

Qawi was an incredible fighter - the story was he was in jail and saw Rossman vs Galindez on TV and said to himself I could beat BOTH of those guys - Then Dwight got out of jail and turned pro and about three years later he fought Saad and beat him decisively - Incredible Hollywood movie type story - Yes Foreman was just way too big -Foreman was too big for Frazier and Dwight was considerably smaller than Joe -

montrealsuper wrote:Qawi was an incredible fighter - the story was he was in jail and saw Rossman vs Galindez on TV and said to himself I could beat BOTH of those guys - Then Dwight got out of jail and turned pro and about three years later he fought Saad and beat him decisively - Incredible Hollywood movie type story - Yes Foreman was just way too big -Foreman was too big for Frazier and Dwight was considerably smaller than Joe -

Zero amateur fights too.

One of the best 175 pound champs of all time. Just a nightmare to fight that Buzzsaw.

why on earth would he have to loose weight 'real quick "if he was fighting as a heavyweight anyway ?
Loosing weight fast was what messed Jim J. Jeffries up in his come back fight with Jack Johnson.

montrealsuper wrote:After defeating Qawi, Foreman went back to work and had 11 more bouts before taking his first major test against Gerry Cooney in Atlantic City in 1990. Foreman stopped the favored Cooney by TKO 2 and eventually got a title shot against Evander Holyfield in 1991. Foreman lost on points to Holyfield but made history defeating Michael Moorer in 1994 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to become the oldest man to win the world Heavyweight title, at age 45, a record that appears unbreakable

Cooney was no test and wasn't favored... Cooney was a drugged out dog who hadn't fought in 3 years -- since he was knocked out quickly by a Light Heavyweight.

Foreman was a clever opportunist.. He knew Cooney was a dead dog.. He knew Qawi was extremely fat.. That's what the short notice was about.

Caractacus wrote:why on earth would he have to loose weight 'real quick "if he was fighting as a heavyweight anyway ?
Loosing weight fast was what messed Jim J. Jeffries up in his come back fight with Jack Johnson.

I think he meant after the Foreman fight he went on a liquid diet to lose the weight

didn't he say in another interview that he actually thought George Foreman was capable of killing him ?

Controversial wrote:

Caractacus wrote:why on earth would he have to loose weight 'real quick "if he was fighting as a heavyweight anyway ?
Loosing weight fast was what messed Jim J. Jeffries up in his come back fight with Jack Johnson.

I think he meant after the Foreman fight he went on a liquid diet to lose the weight

Qawi didn't mean anything of the kind... He said what he meant... He went on a liquid diet right away, so he was in much worse shape than I thought.

Question: Were you in shape for that fight?
Qawi: “Not really. Not really. I was overweight, embarrassed. I had to lose the weight, as a matter of fact, I went on a liquid diet to lose the weight. I was so embarrassed, to get in the ring looking like that. I just had to lose the weight real quick. I was depressed when they called me. I wasn’t ready to go back in the ring real quick. So when they called me I was in the middle of everything, not sure what to do.”

But if you're fighting for 7 to 10 thou and somebody offers you 50 in 2 weeks you'll take it..fat or not... Especially if there's pressing bills to take care of.

Yes but don't disregard the pride of a champion - Qawi likely knew he had no chance to beat George in the physical condition he was in - and Archie moore said about the Clay fight: 'the worst feeling in the world is being in a fight you know you can't win' - Qawi had to know he had no chance to beat the in shape Foreman but $50k is $50k

Kalan wrote:

Controversial wrote:

Caractacus wrote:why on earth would he have to loose weight 'real quick "if he was fighting as a heavyweight anyway ?
Loosing weight fast was what messed Jim J. Jeffries up in his come back fight with Jack Johnson.

I think he meant after the Foreman fight he went on a liquid diet to lose the weight

Qawi didn't mean anything of the kind... He said what he meant... He went on a liquid diet right away, so he was in much worse shape than I thought.

Question: Were you in shape for that fight?
Qawi: “Not really. Not really. I was overweight, embarrassed. I had to lose the weight, as a matter of fact, I went on a liquid diet to lose the weight. I was so embarrassed, to get in the ring looking like that. I just had to lose the weight real quick. I was depressed when they called me. I wasn’t ready to go back in the ring real quick. So when they called me I was in the middle of everything, not sure what to do.”

But if you're fighting for 7 to 10 thou and somebody offers you 50 in 2 weeks you'll take it..fat or not... Especially if there's pressing bills to take care of.

That's not how I read it. He said he wasn't in shape and overweight in the actual fight so it makes more sense that he went on a liquid diet afterwards to lose it, as he said he was embarrassed. Either way Qawi was no HW and done well considering.

did Archie Moore go on liquid diets to loose weight too ?
I think he used laxatives.

maybe he just didnt want to be seen fighting on national television with" a Bowlful of Jelly " ?

Caractacus wrote:did Archie Moore go on liquid diets to loose weight too ?
I think he used laxatives.

Didn't he just chew his food to get the nutrients out and not swallow it?

yes, he also took a lot of steam baths too.

Controversial wrote:

Caractacus wrote:did Archie Moore go on liquid diets to loose weight too ?
I think he used laxatives.

Didn't he just chew his food to get the nutrients out and not swallow it?

yes. in shavers book "welcome to the big time", he said it was part of Moore's training camp to suck and swallow the juices from steaks and well cooked beef for the nutrients but to not eat the meat to avoid adding weight.

marciano did something similar too. he waited till aftee the fight to swallow the meat. major pause on this whole paragraph.

montrealsuper wrote:One of the best 175 pound champs of all time. Just a nightmare to fight that Buzzsaw.

Yeah, the Qawi who beat up Saad was one of the scarier dudes I have ever seen in the ring.

When Dwight Qawi was in his prime, you gotta be in your best of shape to beat him. You knew that you was gonna be into a serious war. He was a true all-time top 25 light-heavyweight.

montrealsuper wrote:Yes but don't disregard the pride of a champion - Qawi likely knew he had no chance to beat George in the physical condition he was in - and Archie moore said about the Clay fight: 'the worst feeling in the world is being in a fight you know you can't win' - Qawi had to know he had no chance to beat the in shape Foreman but $50k is $50k

Qawi was blue collar to the bone. fity thousand was enough for him to take the job. That in '88 be like one tenty today

Counter-puncher wrote:

montrealsuper wrote:One of the best 175 pound champs of all time. Just a nightmare to fight that Buzzsaw.

Yeah, the Qawi who beat up Saad was one of the scarier dudes I have ever seen in the ring.

He was a great mix of defence, counter punching and pressure fighting in that one. Great fighter.

Tomasino wrote:

Counter-puncher wrote:

montrealsuper wrote:One of the best 175 pound champs of all time. Just a nightmare to fight that Buzzsaw.

Yeah, the Qawi who beat up Saad was one of the scarier dudes I have ever seen in the ring.

He was a great mix of defence, counter punching and pressure fighting in that one. Great fighter.

I could watch him roll under shots and counter with bodyshots and hooks and overhand right, all, day, long. he could get that rythmn going where he's throwing in 2's and 3's and slipping/rolling everything coming back at him, tremendous technique given lack of ama background/etc

Counter-puncher wrote:

Tomasino wrote:

Counter-puncher wrote:
Yeah, the Qawi who beat up Saad was one of the scarier dudes I have ever seen in the ring.

He was a great mix of defence, counter punching and pressure fighting in that one. Great fighter.

I could watch him roll under shots and counter with bodyshots and hooks and overhand right, all, day, long. he could get that rythmn going where he's throwing in 2's and 3's and slipping/rolling everything coming back at him, tremendous technique given lack of ama background/etc

I'm the same. I reckon he's one of the best natural fighters of all time. He was confident he could do what he did before he had any real boxing experience.

I remember he sort of reminded me of George "Scrape-Iron"Johnson.