Matthew Saad Muhammad

Matthew Saad Muhammad, born Maxwell Antonio Loach and known for much of his early career as Matthew Franklin, was an American light-heavyweight whose championship reign became associated with violent contests, improbable recoveries and a willingness to fight leading opposition before he had acquired the protection normally given to a developing prospect. Born in Philadelphia on 16 June 1954, he stood 5ft 11in, fought from an orthodox stance and had a 75-inch reach. His final professional record was 39 victories, 16 defeats and three draws, with 29 wins inside the distance. He held the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight championship from 1979 until 1981 and was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998.

His childhood was unusually harsh. His mother died while he was young, and he and an older brother went to live with an aunt who was unable to support both boys. At the age of five, he was taken by his brother to Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway and abandoned. When police found him, he was unable to give them his name. Catholic welfare workers called him Matthew and gave him the surname Franklin after the place where he had been discovered. He later found stability in boxing, compiling a short amateur career of about 20 contests and winning the Trenton Golden Gloves in 1973. He did not have the lengthy international apprenticeship of many future champions, but the hard schooling of the Philadelphia gyms prepared him for an unusually demanding professional career.

Fighting as Matthew Franklin, he made his professional debut at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on 14 January 1974, stopping Billy Early in the second round. He won eight contests during his first year before losing a six-round decision to Wayne McGee. There was little careful record-building thereafter. Franklin was matched with men who were either established contenders or would later become champions. He drew with McGee in a return, defeated future cruiserweight champion Marvin Camel and then lost their rematch, and travelled to Milan to outpoint Mate Parlov before drawing with the Yugoslavian in a second meeting. He also lost to Eddie Gregory, later known as Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. These setbacks left him with three defeats and two draws after only 18 professional appearances, but they were not the losses of an exposed novice. They came against capable men and gave him the experience which was soon put to use at championship level.

His first major breakthrough came at the Spectrum on 26 July 1977 against the unbeaten Marvin Johnson. Franklin stopped Johnson in the 12th round to win the North American Boxing Federation light-heavyweight championship, surviving a contest of severe exchanges before imposing himself late. The victory began the period which established his reputation in Philadelphia. He retained the NABF title against Billy Douglas, Richie Kates and Yaqui Lopez, opponents who offered contrasting problems and were good enough to expose any weakness. Douglas knocked him down before being stopped in the sixth. Kates, a seasoned contender, was halted in the sixth, and Lopez was stopped in the 11th after another demanding contest. Franklin’s appeal rested partly upon the danger he repeatedly created for himself. He was not a polished defensive boxer and could be hurt, cut or driven backwards, but he possessed exceptional recuperative powers and remained capable of producing his most damaging punches when appearing close to defeat.

He challenged Johnson again at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis on 22 April 1979, this time for the WBC world championship. Johnson was fighting before his own support and had become champion, but the second contest followed the brutal pattern of the first. Franklin suffered cuts above both eyes and appeared to be moving towards defeat before attacking with renewed force in the eighth round. He stopped Johnson to become champion, with that session later selected by The Ring as its Round of the Year. Soon afterwards he converted to Islam and adopted the name Matthew Saad Muhammad. His championship reign was one of the most active and demanding of its period. He made eight successful defences, seven by stoppage, defeating John Conteh, Louis Pergaud, Yaqui Lopez, Lottie Mwale, Vonzell Johnson, Murray Sutherland, Jerry Martin and Willie Edwards.

The two contests with Conteh illustrated both Saad Muhammad’s vulnerability and his persistence. Their first meeting in Atlantic City in August 1979 ended with Saad Muhammad retaining the title on points, although the WBC later declared the result a no-contest because of irregularities involving the officials. In the rematch seven months later, Conteh boxed effectively in the early stages before the champion broke him down and stopped him in the fourth. The 1980 defence against Yaqui Lopez became the clearest example of Saad Muhammad’s peculiar capacity for recovery. Lopez dominated much of the first half and trapped him in a corner during the eighth, landing a prolonged sequence of unanswered blows. Saad Muhammad survived, reversed the course of the fight and stopped Lopez in the 14th. The contest was named The Ring’s Fight of the Year and the eighth its Round of the Year. Such victories created the nickname “Miracle Matthew”, although there was nothing accidental about the strength, conditioning and punching power required to produce them.

His style was made for hard fights. Saad Muhammad carried a forceful right hand, a useful left hook and enough physical strength to remain effective at close range. He was particularly dangerous once an opponent believed him weakened. His defence, however, was often secondary to his offence, and his habit of absorbing punishment before responding placed a heavy burden upon him. By 1981 the accumulated strain of the Johnson, Conteh and Lopez contests was becoming apparent. On 19 December at the Atlantic City Convention Hall, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, then fighting as Dwight Braxton, pressed him from a low crouch and denied him the distance required for his longer punches. Qawi stopped him in the tenth round to take the WBC title. Their return at the Spectrum on 7 August 1982 was more decisive. Qawi knocked Saad Muhammad down in the third, won every completed round on the judges’ cards and stopped him against the ropes in the sixth.

Saad Muhammad continued fighting for almost another decade, but the championship version did not return. He lost to Eric Winbush and was stopped by Uriah Grant, while later campaigns took him through the United States, the Caribbean, Europe and Australia. The matchmaking became increasingly uneven, with occasional victories interrupted by defeats to younger or less distinguished opponents. His final appearance came at the Colonial Theatre in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on 21 March 1992, when Jason Waller stopped him in the second round. He retired at 37 after 58 professional contests and 397 rounds, his record preserving the sharp division between a brilliant championship peak and a prolonged decline.

After boxing, Saad Muhammad worked at times as a trainer, including periods in Atlantic City, but his financial circumstances deteriorated. By 2010, he was homeless and living in a Philadelphia shelter. He later secured housing and became involved in charitable work for homeless people, speaking from direct experience about the conditions he had encountered. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and died in a Philadelphia hospital on 25 May 2014, aged 59. His reputation rests securely upon the period between the first Marvin Johnson fight and the defeats by Qawi. During those years he fought a succession of dangerous light-heavyweights, defended his world championship eight times and produced several contests recognised among the outstanding fights of their era. He was neither a defensive master nor a carefully managed champion. His distinction lay in his capacity to remain dangerous after absorbing punishment which would have finished most men, and in the severe standard of opposition against which that quality was repeatedly tested.