BoxRec

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?

He was a great fighter. He was an aggressive fighter and would basically hunt opponents down and break them down with right hands. Holyfield was still a young fighter but it was a great fight, one of the last great 15 rounders, Holyfield won a very close decision. It was back and forth a lot of the way, Holyfield winning many of the early rounds and Qawi many of the later rounds. But that's not all Qawi had in his career. He won part of the Light Heavyweight title from a great fighter in Saad Muhammad, who was probably past his best but who Qawi destroyed. Qawi won almost every round and broke him down with a lot of flush right hands. After that he lost in a unification fight with Michael Spinks in what was also a pretty close fight. When you watch Tyson-Spinks they say that Tyson is the first fighter to knock Spinks down, but Spinks was actually down once in the Qawi fight. I also find it interesting watching Qawi who was so short compete with guys like Spinks and Holyfield who were both around 6'2". I've never seen the fight but Qawi even went 7 rounds with Foreman, which to me is a bit funny, Foreman must have looked like a giant compared to Qawi.

Qawi was an outstanding fighter who got a late start due to being in prison for over 4yrs I believe. He was one of the strongest fighters in his division in part because he did heavy laboring and was a jackhammer operator. He had an excellent chin, very good head movement and was a ferocious bodypuncher. He was also a real pressure fighter with great stamina who was obviously at his best deep in the trenches.

Against a young Evander Holyfield in there first fight, he gave a good account of himself, but in my opinion clearly lost. Most memorable moment in that fight for me was the final round when Qawi (obviously aware he was behind) faked a stagger to lure Holyfield in and then swung for the fences. The punch partially landed. In Qawi's defense, while still a very good fighter, he wasn't as quite as good at Cruiserweight as he was at LHW.

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.

Dwight Muhammad Qawi was usually very good value for money. I loved the way he used to slip, dip, then rip his punches into his opponent.

When he was on form he was a real 'bitch on wheels' and was at his best at 175lbs. Boxbuzz is right he was in the Joe Frazier mould, style wise.

I understand that these days he has overcome his drink problem and is working with kids as some kind of mentor, guidence officer.

I'm sure I read somewhere that as a young man he sparred a lot with Jerry Quarry, but don't quote me on this. I do know that Qawi used to spar with Bennie Briscoe, oh boy!!! I would have paid good money to see that!!!!

What he did to my man Leon Spinks was brutal.

Qawi could have been champ for a long time if not for Spinks. In his prime he was a real handful but what really made him formidable was that he put his punches together so well and was a very hard man. Shame he went underground after the Spinks defeat. He should have come back and earned a rematch.

KOJOE90 wrote:Dwight Muhammad Qawi was usually very good value for money. I loved the way he used to slip, dip, then rip his punches into his opponent.

When he was on form he was a real 'bitch on wheels' and was at his best at 175lbs. Boxbuzz is right he was in the Joe Frazier mould, style wise.

I understand that these days he has overcome his drink problem and is working with kids as some kind of mentor, guidence officer.

I'm sure I read somewhere that as a young man he sparred a lot with Jerry Quarry, but don't quote me on this. I do know that Qawi used to spar with Bennie Briscoe, oh boy!!! I would have paid good money to see that!!!!

What he did to my man Leon Spinks was brutal.

\

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

Nile4000 wrote:I've read about what Curtis Parker did to him and Spinks in sparring.Very bad.

What did you read?

What he did to my man Leon Spinks was brutal.

Despite Spinks being way past it by then, it was the biggest one sided fight Ive ever seen. Qawi just kept Spinks into the corner refusing to let him out, Ive never seen a man take as much punishment as Leon did through out his career.

Thanks for all the information. One more question tho. He was 5'6, was that an advantage for him or a disadvantage through out his career?

Decagon wrote:A blind person may not be able to see, but he might have senses of sound or smell far beyond an average human being.

This is a myth, it's more a case of people with no or little sight just rely and use their other senses more and adapt.

As for Qawi's height he just fought in a style that best suited his dimentions. And you could argue that he turned his disadvantages in size into an advantage just like Marciano, Frazier & Tyson etc

Decagon wrote:

KOJOE90 wrote:

Decagon wrote:A blind person may not be able to see, but he might have senses of sound or smell far beyond an average human being.

This is a myth, it's more a case of people with no or little sight just rely and use their other senses more and adapt.

As for Qawi's height he just fought in a style that best suited his dimentions. And you could argue that he turned his disadvantages in size into an advantage just like Marciano, Frazier & Tyson etc

You can't tell me that Ray Charles didn't have a sense of hearing far beyond an average human being.

Ray Charles may or may not have had very good hearing but it's nothing to do with losing his eyesight.

By the same argument if someone goes deaf are they suddenly going to develop super eyesight? If someone loses their sense of smell do they suddenly have a heightened sense of hearing??? If someone loses their sense of taste do they suddenly get a supersonic sense of smell? etc

No, if someone loses one sense they may use their other senses more just as part of adapting their lifestyle etc, that's all.

Qawi was great. His nickname Buzzsaw was perfect.

Nile4000 wrote:

KOJOE90 wrote:Dwight Muhammad Qawi was usually very good value for money. I loved the way he used to slip, dip, then rip his punches into his opponent.

When he was on form he was a real 'bitch on wheels' and was at his best at 175lbs. Boxbuzz is right he was in the Joe Frazier mould, style wise.

I understand that these days he has overcome his drink problem and is working with kids as some kind of mentor, guidence officer.

I'm sure I read somewhere that as a young man he sparred a lot with Jerry Quarry, but don't quote me on this. I do know that Qawi used to spar with Bennie Briscoe, oh boy!!! I would have paid good money to see that!!!!

What he did to my man Leon Spinks was brutal.

\

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

Curtis Parker was a very good offensive fighter with a granite chin.

Just goes to show wasa cracking puncher John Mugabi was, he anhialated Parker in one round in Nov 83.

.....some comments on a couple of the fights mentioned here...he was a good tough fighter who knew how to use his short height (is that an oxymoron?) to his advantage....bobbed weaved his way in and stayed on the attack.

the two fights i'm referring to.....against leon spinks he just kept spinks on the ropes and actually laughed at him as he bobbed and weaved....practically sticking his chin out to be hit and then slipping the punch. then he'd throw his own in bunches.

..the foreman fight was sad for his fans who remembered when. he came in fat...and unmotivated..during foreman's comeback against a lot of outpatients. he put up no fight at all....and i may be wrong on this but i think her quit in his corner between rounds. whatever..the crowd expressed its disapproval most heartily. it did foreman no good as it was obvious his opponent was there just for a payday....and this was when foreman was trying to build some credibilty in his fat man walking comeback.

The commentary of the day wqas that Qawi taunting Spinks during their fight, was a disgrace .It didn't earn Dwight too many new fans with that effort

Qawi is one of my all time favorite fighters. He was one Tough SOB, and had pretty good defense, and was a great action fighter. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he made his name from an ESPN tournament which he wasn't favored to win and then earned his shot at the light heavyweight title .

Jaclem wrote:...the foreman fight was sad for his fans who remembered when. he came in fat...and unmotivated..during foreman's comeback against a lot of outpatients. he put up no fight at all....and i may be wrong on this but i think her quit in his corner between rounds. whatever..the crowd expressed its disapproval most heartily. it did foreman no good as it was obvious his opponent was there just for a payday....and this was when foreman was trying to build some credibilty in his fat man walking comeback.

I think your memory fails you on this one. Qawi looked simply terrible being out of shape, but he fought beautifully for several rounds. Foreman was throwing a lot of uppercuts, they all missed. His right hand missed almost every time. Even his jabs rarely found their target. While Qawi bobbed and weaved and was throwing these wide swings that caught Foreman a lot of times, while ducking or slipping any counter from Big George.
During the last minute of 6th round there were a couple of interesting moments. First was when Foreman throws not very clean right cross, and then a left uppercut that makes Qawi drop his hands and his knees buckle, and George, certain that he's going to fall now, stops his right hook half-way, turns away and start to walk to the corner, when Qawi without falling throws a couple of swings to catch him. Later in the same round, another combination from Foreman and the way very fat Qawi sprung off the ropes after these punches, it looked like some wrestling match, where you see them do such thing a lot.
In the 7th round Foreman hits Qawi with several heavy punches, and Qawi, without a knockdown, turns away and shows to referee he doesn't want to fight anymore, no mas.

..senya..thanks for wiping away a few cobwebs from my memory. apparently you have a tape of that fight which is more reliable. i do think i am right though about the ending being "unsatifactory" in the minds of the crowd. the announcers too, but the hell with them.

going back to my own memory again...i think at the time i agreed with the crowd.

Jaclem wrote:..senya..thanks for wiping away a few cobwebs from my memory. apparently you have a tape of that fight which is more reliable. i do think i am right though about the ending being "unsatifactory" in the minds of the crowd. the announcers too, but the hell with them.

going back to my own memory again...i think at the time i agreed with the crowd.

Jaclem, in Senya's mind Qawi-Foreman is some sort of closet-classic.

The fight stunk . . both guys were in bad condition and fought sloppily. Qawi flat out quit.

I watched that fight a year or two ago. So I simply dug up my notes about it. I have no wish to watch it again, that's for sure. Same as most other fights of come-backing Foreman.

generic name wrote:Qawi is one of my all time favorite fighters. He was one Tough SOB, and had pretty good defense, and was a great action fighter. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he made his name from an ESPN tournament which he wasn't favored to win and then earned his shot at the light heavyweight title .

yup..Frank Fletcher won the Middleweight version. Then he won a grudge match in Rahway prison against James Scott.

I think he also butchered Rossman before the two sad fights against Saad.

Qawi was pretty difficult to hit. I believe Evander was the only guy to ever drop him in their rematch.

Decagon wrote:But how the brain interprets input changes when it loses one of the five senses. A blind man's physical ability to hear doesn't change, but his ability to interpret sounds does.

I've heard it all know.

And there are WAY more than just five senses by the way.

Their were 2 other guys active at the same time as Qawi who had similar body builds and styles. James "Hard Rock" Green and Frankie Warren.

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.