Dwight Muhammad Qawi vs Matthew Saad Muhammad II

Dwight Muhammad Qawi retained the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight championship by stopping Matthew Saad Muhammad in the sixth round of their return contest at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on 7 August 1982. The fight, promoted as the “Liberty Brawl” and televised live by HBO, drew 6,871 spectators. Both men were officially recorded at 175 pounds. Qawi entered with 17 victories, one defeat and one draw, while Saad Muhammad’s record stood at 32 wins, four defeats and two draws. Referee Carlos Padilla ended the scheduled 15-round contest after one minute and 23 seconds of the sixth, with the former champion trapped against the ropes and unable to answer a sustained attack.

Their first meeting, eight months earlier, had marked the end of Saad Muhammad’s eventful reign. He had become one of Philadelphia’s leading attractions through repeated recoveries from knockdowns, cuts and periods of heavy punishment, earning his reputation as a fighter at his most dangerous when a contest appeared to be slipping from him. His victories over Marvin Johnson, John Conteh, Richie Kates and Yaqui Lopez had included some of the hardest light-heavyweight championship fighting of the period. Qawi, then fighting under the name Dwight Braxton, had refused to be drawn into the usual pattern. He stayed close, worked from angles and steadily overwhelmed Saad Muhammad before stopping him in the tenth round on 19 December 1981. After losing the title, Saad Muhammad replaced his trainer, Sam Solomon, with Philadelphia veteran Steve Traitz and won a preparatory contest against Pete McIntyre. The rematch was intended to establish whether the first defeat had been caused by an exhausting weight reduction and a poor performance, or whether Qawi’s pressure and compact style presented a problem he could no longer solve.

Qawi settled the question from the opening round. Although nearly five inches shorter, he did not remain at the end of Saad Muhammad’s reach. He advanced from his familiar crouch, slipped beneath the challenger’s jab and stepped to either side after completing his combinations. Saad Muhammad stood comparatively upright and required room to bring his longer punches into operation, but Qawi crowded him before he could establish a rhythm. The champion’s short jab and overhand right reached the target repeatedly, and his hooks to the body kept Saad Muhammad from moving freely. Qawi was aggressive without becoming disorderly. He punched in compact bursts, changed his position and forced the taller man to turn before he could reply.

The difference became more pronounced in the second round. Qawi drove Saad Muhammad backwards with the right hand and opened a flow of blood from the challenger’s nose. Saad Muhammad attempted to exchange, but his punches lacked their former sharpness, and he was frequently caught while drawing back in a straight line. The crowd had seen him recover from worse situations, and every moment of resistance encouraged the expectation of another rally. On this occasion, however, the punishment was not being delivered by a tiring opponent who had exhausted himself in pursuit of an early finish. Qawi maintained his balance, kept his hands moving and gave Saad Muhammad little opportunity to rest or counter cleanly.

A combination put Saad Muhammad down in the third. Qawi forced him backwards, closed the distance and struck with both hands before the challenger could move clear. Saad Muhammad rose, but there was no corresponding change in the contest. Qawi resumed his pressure immediately, attacking the body and then bringing the right hand over the top. Saad Muhammad remained courageous and continued to throw when given room, yet he was increasingly fighting from the ropes or while retreating. The champion’s low centre of gravity made him difficult to push away, and his head movement prevented Saad Muhammad from arresting the advance with a steady jab.

The fourth and fifth rounds were controlled in much the same fashion. Qawi stayed close enough to deny Saad Muhammad full extension on his punches and struck from positions which required the challenger to reset before answering. Saad Muhammad’s past recoveries had depended upon his ability to survive the early attack and then find openings as an opponent slowed. Qawi supplied no such decline. His combinations remained short and forceful, and he continued to finish them by moving away from the line of return. Saad Muhammad was staggered more than once and was carrying the effects of the accumulated punishment. His nose had been bloodied, his reactions had slowed, and his defence was becoming increasingly dependent upon covering with both gloves rather than slipping or countering.

There was no completed round on which the officials disagreed. Judge Tony Castellano had Qawi leading 50–43 after five rounds, Tony Perez scored the contest 50–42 and Dick Young 50–41. Those totals reflected not merely the third-round knockdown but the one-sided character of the fighting around it. Saad Muhammad had reached the sixth without winning a round and without showing the revival which had rescued him in earlier championship contests. Qawi, by contrast, had grown in confidence. He later explained that he had trained to prevent the former champion from entering the fight and believed himself to be at his peak after winning the title.

Qawi attacked at once in the sixth. A left-right combination drove Saad Muhammad into the ropes, where the challenger raised his gloves and attempted to withstand the assault. The champion continued with hooks and straight rights, moving with Saad Muhammad as he lurched along the ropes. He struck to the body with a hook and right hand, then returned to the head with another left-right sequence. Saad Muhammad reeled backwards and was driven towards Qawi’s corner. The champion’s arms continued to work at close range, the punches arriving from both sides while Saad Muhammad remained covered and made no effective reply. Padilla stepped between them at 1:23 and waved the contest over. There was no protest of consequence. Saad Muhammad was still upright, but he had ceased to defend himself sufficiently and further punishment could not have altered the result.

The victory was Qawi’s second successful defence and confirmed that the first result had not been an accident of condition or timing. He had defeated Saad Muhammad more quickly and more completely than in their first meeting, using pressure, angles and compact punching to overcome the challenger’s advantages in height and reach. Saad Muhammad’s long series of severe contests had plainly reduced the reserves upon which he had relied during his championship years. The rematch contained courage, but none of his celebrated recoveries, for Qawi allowed him neither the space nor the respite required to produce one. The champion received a reported purse of $400,000 and Saad Muhammad $350,000. Qawi proceeded towards a light-heavyweight unification contest with Michael Spinks, while the defeated former champion never again fought for a major world title.

I was a huge Dwight Muhammad Qawi fan, but I admired Matthew Saad Muhammad just as much. I followed both men closely and studied every fight I could find. Saad was one of boxing’s great comeback fighters, a man who had dragged himself out of trouble against Marvin Johnson, Yaqui Lopez and John Conteh. Qawi was completely different: compact, clever and relentless, with that crouching pressure which made taller men fight at his distance.

By the time of their rematch at the Philadelphia Spectrum, Qawi had already stopped Saad in ten rounds to take the WBC light-heavyweight title. Some believed Saad’s difficult weight-making had contributed to the first defeat. The second fight removed every excuse. Qawi won every completed round on all three official cards, bloodied Saad’s nose in the second and dropped him with a combination in the third.

What impressed me was Qawi’s intelligence. At only around 5ft 7in, he got underneath Saad’s reach, moved his head and punched from angles. He was not just charging forward. He used a short jab, drove over the top with the right hand and kept Saad too crowded to produce those long, punishing combinations.

The finish in the sixth was uncomfortable to watch. Qawi trapped him on the ropes and unloaded hooks and straight rights until Carlos Padilla stepped in at 1:23. It was the correct stoppage. Saad had given boxing enough of himself and had nothing left to turn the fight around.

I admired them both, but that night belonged entirely to Qawi. He did not merely beat a great champion; he shut down everything that had once made Saad so dangerous.