Michael Spinks vs Matthew Saad Muhammed (in his prime)

zuru · Post by **zuru** » 11 Mar 2005, 14:38

Spinks was a very good fighter who carried 1 punch power in both hands.And he was a good boxer(although according to some,a bit dirty at times).Saad was also an awesome puncher with both hands,and back in his prime,was an under-rated boxer.I am not referring to the faded warrior,who lost to "Camden Buzzsaw Braxton",but the younger Saad.I think it could be a close fight,but I don't know if Spinks could stop Saad,(other than on cuts)but he may decision him.However,I do think it is possible that Saad may stop Spinks.I personally thought that Spinks lost to Eddie Davis,but got the decision,(and I am a Spinks fan),however,I don't recall seeing Spinks,take a series of hard punches like that Saad could throw,other than by Tyson,and that was over before the 1st bell,due to Spinks extreme fear of Tyson.
zuru

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 13 Mar 2005, 17:34

I think this would've been a great fight for 8-9 rounds but Spinks would've eventually proved to be too skillful for Saad. I'm thinking mainly that Spinks was the only man to beat Qawi in his light-heavy prime (Qawi was an absolute beast at 175), whereas Qawi easily beat Saad both times they faced off. On the flip side, Qawi was quite short for a light-heavy - 4 inches shorter than Saad and a whopping 8 inches shorter than Spinks, so perhaps the massive height advantage Spinks had (in addition to his obvious skill) was simply too much for Qawi to overcome. Saad would have been at a much lesser height disadvantage (though still a fairly substantial one) vs. Spinks, so might've had a better chance to get in and land a big punch. But I still think Spinks weathers any early storm and wins by UD or late-round TKO.

Also, I'm not so sure about Saad being "faded" by the time he met Qawi - that was only about 2 years after he won the WBC light-heavy title in the followup to his classic NABF title bout vs. Marvin Johnson, and while he'd obviously been in some wars since then, he was naturally blessed with great recuperative powers and hadn't been beaten in over 4 years. I was more under the impression that the losses to Qawi took much of the starch out of Saad.

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 14 Mar 2005, 00:32

This fight almost happened in '81. Saad was WBC champ, Mustafa Muhammad was WBA. After Spinks's KO of Marvin Johnson (his most spectacular win) the way was clear for Spinks to challenge either champ. I remember seeing Saad and Spinks calling each other out after the fight on ABC. Why Spinks and his people went for Mustafa, I'm not sure, but Mike won the title and he and Saad were both champions til Saad lost in late '82. Unification bouts are hard to pull off, frustrating us boxing fans. But, if this one had come off, I gotta go with Spinks. He was a bit sharper, and paid more attention to defense (but I've seen kamikaze pilots who paid more attention to defense than Saad). Both had a tendency to hand over initiative to the opponent, but Spinks took less punishment and had a bit more speed. Saad would give it a helluva shot, as always, but I think Mike would have prevailed inside the distance, maybe by cuts. But I woulda paid good money to see it! We got cheated out of this one.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 14 Mar 2005, 09:49

Great fight this would have been... I think I'd lean towards Spinks by decision... I think he'd box Saad and refuse to get into a war and his edge in speed and boxing skills would take him to a decision. If Spinks went toe to toe with a prime Saad I would pick Saad to win... but Mike was too smart for that.

overhand_right · Post by **overhand_right** » 17 Mar 2005, 13:09

The fact that Saad lost to Qawi doesnt mean he was shot. I think Qawi would have beaten Saad at any point. He simply had the style & skills to give a man of Saads style a complete shellacking.

The fact Spinks made such easy work of Qawi, is ominous for Saad. Also the fact that Spinks completely annihilated two guys who nearly killed Saad- Johnson & Lopez- is another blow against him. Spinks even made easy work of Mustafa, another man who beat Saad.

Besides all that i think Spinks is just too classy, punches waaay too hard & boxes too good for Saad at any point. Saads willingness to take a punch to give one would be deadly against the Spinks Jinx. Remember Spinks moved to the heavies & even beat Larry Holmes & waxed Gerry Cooney, this guy really was a Great.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 22 Mar 2005, 17:05

I would pick Michael Spinks over Mathew Saad
Muhammad. Spinks had much better boxing
skills along with his excellent punching power.
As to the Mike Tyson blasting out Spinks in one
round, Tyson was a natural heavyweight who
had lots of talent and awesome punching power.

- Chuck Johnston

zuru · Post by **zuru** » 22 Mar 2005, 17:47

Chuck1052 wrote:I would pick Michael Spinks over Mathew Saad
Muhammad. Spinks had much better boxing
skills along with his excellent punching power.
As to the Mike Tyson blasting out Spinks in one
round, Tyson was a natural heavyweight who
had lots of talent and awesome punching power.

- Chuck Johnston

I take nothing away from Spinks,because the Tyson he fought had many natural Heavyweights frozen in fear,he just didn't really fight,once he was in there,in my opinion.zuru

zurdo · Post by **zurdo** » 02 Apr 2005, 01:15

Spinks also had a great jab and Saad had a tendancy to get busted up...Bad news for Saad

Saad , as always , would have made a great effort and be dangerous the whole way but he eventually would have been sytematically cut up and taken out By Spinks

Spinks would have had too much for him

warrior · Post by **warrior** » 24 Apr 2005, 18:48

this would have been a war. give and take by both guys. both would have to dig down to win. spinks by close decision* i was in with spinks*

Michael Spinks vs Matthew Saad Muhammed (in his prime)

Michael Spinks vs Matthew Saad Muhammed (in his prime)

Spinks vs. Muhammad

Re: Spinks vs. Muhammad

spinks