BoxRec

I'm calling on my fellow wizards here to give thoughtful 1 to 6 ranking to a group of fighters who fought in and around the same time period some faced off and some didnt. But based on what you have seen, your knowledge, thoughts, suppositions and assumptions, could you rate in order of effective demonstrated pugilistic competency, the following names. Assume each is in his LHW prime.

Victor Galindez
Dwight M. Qawi
Michael Spinks
Yaqui Lopez
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
Matthew Saad Muhammad

If you feel there is a LHW from this general era that should be included please add a name if you wish. I would ask that you don't get too far from this weight class or this time period as I have a specific purpose for asking. Any color commentary or clinical analysis would be welcome.

Ill give it a go.
Michael Spinks
Qwawi
Eddie Mustapha
Matthew Saad
Yaqui Lopez
Victor Galindez

This was a great time for the Lhw division. I have those 6 based on some head to head matchups. Some of those guys fought one another. Ithought Yaqui got robbed vs. Galindez the last time they fought. Eddie Mustapha beat a young Matt Franklin before he became Saad. Spinks beat Qwawi, Lopez, . And there were some other fights amongst them. Saad beat by Qwawi, Mustapha over Galindez. Anyway thats my take.


Some other Lhws of that period worth a look: Marvin Johnson
James Scott
Jesse Burnett
Jerry Martin
Jerry Celestine

Thanks expug yep I should have included Johnson in that lineup. The others you named I think are probably fairly rated in the "next tier" But Marvin belongs in that group. Would you have him behind Galindez? Or somewhere else in the lineup?

I think I would put Marvin just ahead of Victor. He kayoed him at the end of Victors career I know but it was brutal enough to make me think he could have done it earlier as well. Your right about the other guys being second tier. Remember all of those fights televised from Rahway State penetentiary of James Scotts? I can still hear Marv Alberts call.

We forgot Mike Rossman also. ... Ah maybe hes in that second group too. Thoughts?

Rossman got exposure but I don't think he delivered like the other 7. Next tier in my opinion.

He stood to make a few bucks , but his title reign days were a little strange. He lost a non title fight to a guy named Ramon Ranquello who was a clubfighter. He defended it against Aldo Travessero, and he stayed on the stool in the Galindez rematch. I believe The original Galindez rematch didnt come off because Galindez wouldnt come out of the lockeroom to fight. There was some drama I dont remember the reason but it was a fiasco on national T.V.

Galindez is high (for me). He licked Lopez twice (don't be fooled by those who say Yaqui was robbed in the first fight - he wasn't). He also beat Mustapha (and floored him in the process). That's exactly what Spinks did, who has to be high, even though I was never massively impressed with Spinks. He had a big punch, and knew how to box, but beat a lot of weak challengers and struggled with cuties. I'm not sure he would have been such a dominant champ in the 70's.
Qawi destroyed a faded Saad but proved beatable against Spinks. He would have been outboxed by Galindez, in my opinion, who also had enough of a punch to keep Qawi 'brave'.
Yaqui Lopez scored a phenomenal win over Mike Rossman just prior to Rossman destroying an out-of-shape Galindez, and took a peak Saad to the well. But he lost the big ones.
Eddie Mustapha Muhammad could probably have beaten anyone on a good night, but was so lazy.
Matthew Saad Muhammad had the guts to beat all of them, too.

Ultimately, at light-heavyweight, I have to favour:

Matthew Saad Muhammad
Mike Spinks
Victor Galindez
Eddie Mustapha Muhammad
Dwight Muhammad Qawi
Yaqui Lopez

Bennie , you are right about Eddie Mustapha. He had tremendous ability and should have done more.

Bennie where would you put Marvin Johnson in the mix?

BoxBuzz wrote:Bennie where would you put Marvin Johnson in the mix?

Well, he deserves to be in there, for sure. It would be hard to put him over Mustapha, given the way Eddie boxed him to a standstill. But, then, he took out Galindez and bust his jaw. But that was a faded Galindez.
Spinks took out Marvin, of course...
You know, trying to rank these guys is almost impossible - they all won and lost to each other and were all quality fighters. I think the best of the lot was a hungry Saad (yes, even better than Spinks, who comes in AFTER the great days of the 70's, for me). As for the others: ranking them really depends on what mood you are in when logging on...

I would put Galindez higher than many of you are placing him. Galindez was a long reigning champion who fought a lot of tough guys. He was deceptively skilled as well. Some good counter punching skills, and one of the strongest pairs of shoulders I've seen in boxing. Was awesome in his rematch with Rossman.

Eddie Mustafa was excellent. He should've beaten Spinks - indeed, he was schooling him, making him look like a novice. But Spinks found a way back, hurting Eddie's eye enough to make Eddie lose his grip on the fight. If Eddie's eye hadn't swollen up, Spinks would probably have lost. But I have Spinks winning the fight - barely.

Seeing as though Spinks' punch caused it, I give Spinks full credit for the win. But Eddie could've won.

Galindez and Spinks both were long reigning champs in very strong eras. I wouldn't use the Marvin Johnson fight as a decider as Spinks got an older Johnson, whereas Galindez was old and out of shape for Johnson before getting hammered.

he didn't unify, but then again most ppl aren't able to get unification fights. with names like fourie, ahumada, rossman, lopez, kates, gregory, bill douglas, burnett - i think it's a bit harsh to call him a mere titlist. galindez was the dominant champ of his time (mid-late 70s)

of course, you can say that because spinks unified, against the formidable HOFer Qawi, then he should be rated higher.

If you ask me, a titlist is someone like Josue Camacho, the WBO light flyweight champ that Carbajal challenged & beat after losing his unified belts to Humberto Gonzalez (rematch). That's a perfect example of a titlist

26. Harold Johnson

sorry to go off topic but thats ridiculous decagon, u horribly underate johnson and i bet u never seen him on film. i have johnson # 9 greatest light-h of all time.


heres how i rate them


1. spinx EASILY
2. qawi
3. saad muhammad
4. galindez
5. mustahpa muhammad
6. yaqie lopez

1. Michael Spinks
2. Victor Galindez
3. Saad Muhammad
4. John Conteh
5. Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
6. Dwight Quawi

Decagon wrote:Well, he wasn't a champion; he was a titlist. I feel bad about not having Galindez and Conteh in my top 30, but the two didn't unify, and both were in their prime before the Muhammad/Muhammad/Qawi/Johnson era, which had better fighters. I have Galindez a few steps higher, but I'd love it if they'd actually fought to determine who the better man was, so I could rank one of them at around 25 and the other around 35.

Your logic doesn't make sense... if you don't rate Galindez and Conteh higher simply because 'they didn't unify!' how can you rate Charles at 1. when he never held the title at all?. Neither Salvadore Sanchez or Euesbio Pedrosa 'unified' the featherweight title... would you rate them so low just because of this???...

This was a phenomneal era in the light heavyweight division.

For the original 6
1. Spinks
2. Qawi
3. Mustapha Muhammad
4. Saad Muhammad
5. Galindez
6. Lopez

Adding Marvin Johnson it would then be:
1.Spinks
2. Qawi
3. Mustapha Muhammad
4. Saad Muhammad
5. Johnson
6. Galindez
7. Lopez

Spinks has to be #1. Lopez has to be last. The rest are very close.

Decagon wrote:

silkov wrote:Your logic doesn't make sense... if you don't rate Galindez and Conteh higher simply because 'they didn't unify!' how can you rate Charles at 1. when he never held the title at all?. Neither Salvadore Sanchez or Euesbio Pedrosa 'unified' the featherweight title... would you rate them so low just because of this???...

Charles beat every great light heavyweight of his era three or four times, and was the better of the men who held the World Light Heavyweight Championship for 19 out of 20 years. Galindez and Conteh fought in weaker eras, and never fought each other. Yes, perhaps "unified" wasn't the best possible word, but it was a weaker era, and neither man proved he was the best the way Charles did. Pedroza and Sanchez is a bit of a different story because Sanchez died.

Galindez and Conteh fought in one of the strongest eras the division has ever seen!... you need to get watching some fights...

The whole of the seventies was very strong at light heavy.

Spinks was an 80s fighter, he came along at the end of most of these fighters careers.Qawi sort of straddles both era's.

Hey Silkov could you put into your ratings the names that I originally mentioned with Marvin Johnson...and I see your going to rate Conteh and perhaps others above my original six. Thats ok if I can just get your take on my originals and their respective orders.

Arbachakov wrote:The whole of the seventies was very strong at light heavy.

Spinks was an 80s fighter, he came along at the end of most of these fighters careers.Qawi sort of straddles both era's.

The strongest eras for the Lightheavies was the 70s and the 20s... the 40s era comes a way after that...

BoxBuzz wrote:Hey Silkov could you put into your ratings the names that I originally mentioned with Marvin Johnson...and I see your going to rate Conteh and perhaps others above my original six. Thats ok if I can just get your take on my originals and their respective orders.

I see what you mean Buzz...

I'd put them like this...

1. Mike Spinks
2. Victor Galindez
3. Saad Muhammad
4. Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
5. Dwight Quawi
6. Marvin Johnson
7. Yaqui Lopez
..............................not much to choose between most of them, I can see Saad having a good chance with Victor, but just edge it to Victor (he's very underrated I think) ...I could also see Quawi perhaps outworking Mustafa but think overall Mustafa had the skills to win if he was 'switched on'. I rate Saad over Quawi because I think he would have beaten Quawi at his best... people forget what good boxing skills Saad had earlier in his career...
I'd put Conteh in there at 4...
Its a shame Johnson never fought Lopez... what a fight that would have been!!!....

silk


im confused on the low rating of qawi? he completley dominated saad muhammad

Decagon wrote:

silkov wrote:Galindez and Conteh fought in one of the strongest eras the division has ever seen!... you need to get watching some fights...

Well, the division only got strong once they were past it. When they were on top, the division wasn't as great. The 1970s light heavyweights were awesome, of course.

The divison was strong all through the 70s... look at the guys who were fighting... guys like Kates, Burnett, Douglas, Lopez etc would probably be multiple world champions if they were active today...

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:silk


im confused on the low rating of qawi? he completley dominated saad muhammad

Saad was just a shodow of himself when he fought Quawi... I think a peak Saad would have beaten Dwight... thats not to say that Quawi wasn't good but the guys above him would probably have been able to outbox him...