BoxRec

Anyone see this fight? It was extremly close as I recall.
Why was there never a rematch?

I have always considered Matthew the better fighter between the two but the loss would shoot a hole in that theory.

Anyone know why Mustafa never fought Qawi?
Or why Saad never fought Galindez?


Sort of boxing politics questions I guess.

Someone in a PM says they never heard of these guys. So I will give more info.

Matthew Saad Muhammad and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad

Each Champions in and near the Galindez, Lopez, Qawi era.

Saad lost two to Qawi, Mustafa never fought Qawi.

Ya know I think I"m being suckered in.......now if what you really mean is who the hell cares....I can live with that. Just wondered why some of the greats in that exact era never crossed paths. Light Heavys all.

Anyone know what the politics were that kept those fights off the boards?

These two were actually signed for a match,I believe when both were champions,on the ill fated "this is it" card promoted by a shady character named Harold Smith who I think later went to jail for illegal financial shenanigans involving a company he got Muhammad Ali involved in.It was an all star fight card with Arguello v. Kenty,Wilfredo Gomez v. Ayala,Gerry Cooney v. Norton and a few other big matches all at Madison Square Garden.Their first match I never saw but read that Saad floored Mustafa in the first round and won a close decision.I'd say Mustafa was definetly more talented,a big puncher and extremely hard to hit but he didn't have much fire.A perfect example of Mustafa's placid approach was his title winning fight against Marvin Johnson,he floored Johnson early and totally dominated him yet held back until Johnson finally went down in the 11th from a brutal body battering.Same thing in his title fight with Victor Galindez,fought tentatively and lost a fight he could of won.I remember Mustafa was favored in the rematch based on his talent but then it was cancelled.Mustafa then made his stupid out of shape move to heavyweight and lost to Snipes then moved back down and lost to Spinks.

interesting. The outcome of the first Saad/Mustafa fight was a decision for Mustafa.

Thanks for the info strange days those matches should have been made.

Yeah Mustafa did win a split decision,I was writing from memory and thinking Saad got the decision.

I remember seeing Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (known as
Eddie Gregory at the time) vs. Mathew Saad Muhammad
(known as Matt Franklin at the time) on television. At the
time Mathew Saad Muhammad had a boxer-type style.
After that close bout, he adopted a more aggressive
style and had an incrediable number of thrilling bouts.

- Chuck Johnston

So Chuck were you there in person? If so which fighter would you back 2 out of 3? Saad Or Mustafa?

I saw the bout on television and feel that Eddie Mustafa
Muhammad (Eddie Gregory) would win two out of three
bouts with Mathew Saad Muhammad (Matt Franklin).

- Chuck Johnston

Didn't Saad floor Mustafa?

Thoughts?

BoxBuzz wrote:Someone in a PM says they never heard of these guys. So I will give more info.

Matthew Saad Muhammad and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad

Each Champions in and near the Galindez, Lopez, Qawi era.

Saad lost two to Qawi, Mustafa never fought Qawi.
Ya know I think I"m being suckered in.......now if what you really mean is who the hell cares....I can live with that. Just wondered why some of the greats in that exact era never crossed paths. Light Heavys all.

Anyone know what the politics were that kept those fights off the boards?

On the contrary Qawi just kicked Mustafa Muhammad's ass today in the Sim. Incidentally managerial bias aside, I really do think Qawi would've beaten Mustafa Muhammad on points if they had ever fought.

Too bad this never happened.

gilgamesh wrote:

BoxBuzz wrote:Someone in a PM says they never heard of these guys. So I will give more info.

Matthew Saad Muhammad and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad

Each Champions in and near the Galindez, Lopez, Qawi era.

Saad lost two to Qawi, Mustafa never fought Qawi.
Ya know I think I"m being suckered in.......now if what you really mean is who the hell cares....I can live with that. Just wondered why some of the greats in that exact era never crossed paths. Light Heavys all.

Anyone know what the politics were that kept those fights off the boards?

On the contrary Qawi just kicked Mustafa Muhammad's ass today in the Sim. Incidentally managerial bias aside, I really do think Qawi would've beaten Mustafa Muhammad on points if they had ever fought.

I'd have taken Qawi on points also; more fire if that makes sense.

Nile4000 wrote:Didn't Saad floor Mustafa?

Film exists of the fight but not in full.

I think I remember reading they were/are friends and that's partly why there was no attempt at either a unification or rematch.

orbtastic wrote:

Nile4000 wrote:Didn't Saad floor Mustafa?

Film exists of the fight but not in full.

I think I remember reading they were/are friends and that's partly why there was no attempt at either a unification or rematch.

Didn't their being Muslims also play a role?

I don't think it was a case of either guy ducking the other or anything like that. There were just so much depth at light heavyweight in the late 1970s and early 1980s that these guys were busy fighting other really good/great lightheavyweights.
Maybe if Qawi and Spinks weren't around they would have fought again. They were very close in ability.