Dwight Qawi vs James Toney

Getting "out boxed" by Spinks at Lt.heavyweight isn't that shocking.
Most boxing fans think Spinks is in the top 3 in the history of the division .
Some think he's the best Lt.heavy ever.
Losing to Spinks by decision shouldn't make Qawi overrated and completely
underrate his other accomplishments at the weight.

 

I think Qawi was very good but I am seeing him be victorious in almost every fantasy bout.
Matthew Saad Muhammad was not at his peak when Qawi beat him and who would be after all the brutal wars he had been in ? But mention that and everyone goes crazy and says it would have been the same result anyway when that is simply not true.
Hell I have seen posts where it was Hill vs Qawi and if Qawi had trouble cutting the ring off on Spinks, and he couldn't do it, what in the hell do you think would likely happen vs a boxer like Hill who moved not only much better then a Spinks but moved much faster then Spinks?
Qawi is very talented but anyone with good lateral movement would have given him massive problems due to Qawi's size.
Holyfield vs Qawi was a great fight but Holyfield was also a very green pro when they first fought and when matched up latter completely dominated Qawi.
Matthew Saad Muhammad has a much better resume then Qawi did at light heavy but mention that and people who are Qawi fans go crazy when it is just a fact.

 

This is what I am exactly talking about. Spinks vs Qawi was NEVER a competitive fight and you also leave out the part where Spinks cracked Qawi with the Spinks Jinx at the start of the bout and there are many people that say THAT is what determined the outcome of the bout.
Toney was a very up and down boxer at light heavy but you also leave out that the Griffin bout was a horrible decision and that Griffin while short like Qawi was fights in an entirely different style then Qawi did.
Its not that I dislike Qawi its that people are unrealistic at times with certain boxers. There is no possible way Qawi would ever beat a Bob Foster for instance.

 

Yes it was competitive after 7th round I scored it and rewatched it like 2 years ago Qawi got back into the fight and made Spinks work in 2nd half of the fight and even scored a knockdown which to be fair was more of slip......

But in the end I had Spinks winning by 4 points which is a clear win but not domination, and I don't see what losing to an ATG Light Heavyweight like Spinks has anything tk do with Qawi being overrated or in regards to a match up vs Toney.

As for the Griffin fights they wern't horrible decisions they were both close fights which were debatable and Toney lost both fights due to being outhustled.

Toney did nothing remarkable at Light Heavyweight lost to a fighter like Griffin who has similar attributes to Qawi in regards to height. Also Toney lost to to the very ordinary Drake Thadzi at Light Heavyweight.

About the only notable thing Toney did at Light Heavyweight was beating a way past it ancient Mike McCallum.

Toney would fair far worse than Qawi did vs Spinks just for your information aswell.

 

There was never a time in the Qawi fight that he was beating Spinks or he was leading in the fight.
It was a non effort by Qawi that involved him basically following Spinks around.
That is great that you think Qawi dropped Spinks by stepping on Spinks foot which clearly he did.
I am not at all saying that Toney would beat a Qawi at light heavy but if James showed up in shape he very well could beat Qawi since he was more talented then Qawi was. He certainly had the tools to pull it off.

 

I just don't understand your logic in all honesty in one sentence you call "Qawi overrated" for losing to an ATG Light Heavyweight. Which i don't understand how losing to one of the best ever at the weight makes you overrated ? And then in another sentence you'll excuse Toney for losing to Griffin twice and the very ordinary Thadzi ?

So if i'm reading this right you'll harshly criticise Qawi for losing the one of the best ever, but you don't show the same level of criticism to Toney for losing to far lesser fighters at the same weight ? baffling to me.

You keep saying "If Toney was in shape" point to me what was Toney's best performance at Light Heavyweight ? Toney was in shape vs Griffin and couldn't beat him in 2 attempts, and his best win at that weight was vs an ancient McCallum who's best weight was 3 weightclasses below at Jr Middleweight.

Toney is not beating a prime Qawi at Light Heavyweight Toney did nothing of note at the weight.

 

I said Qawi is starting to get overrated never said he was not a good fighter or that he sucked.
The non effort in the Spinks fight does turn me off- because lets face it he tasted Spinks power and it changed the complexion of the entire fight.
Toney was a much more talented boxer then Qawi that is just a fact and he does indeed have the tools to defeat a Qawi but the discipline is what he might not have.
The fact is Toney can fight on the inside just as good as Qawi if not better.

 

Toney, assuming a best version of. If you just take the average version of each guy Dwight was more consistent.
Qawi more active but somewhat overrated. A lot of the clever head movements etc that allowed him to pound an already shopworn MSM or act like an a hole vs Leon Spinks would be irrelevant vs Toney, who was at least as good an infighter, and would have been able to stand in the pocket with him and come out ahead. Like I said though assumes best Toney. Buffet Toney might not do quite as well, unless he was fighting the hippo version of Qawi who waddle into battle vs Foreman. That was certainly not Dwight’s best though so let’s discard that too.

 

See that is the misconception. Toney actually threw and landed more punches against Griffin in both fights. So you tell me how he got hustle.

 

So it puts you off that Qawi lost a competitive fight to one of the greatest Light Heavyweights of all time.

But it doesn't put you off that Toney lost to Griffin twice who is similar to Qawi in height nor losing to the very ordinary Thadzi.

Again what did Toney do at Light Heavyweight ?

 

the reality is Toney never lost to Griffin or Thadzy. They were bad decisions. It also apparent that Toney also was not in top shape for those fights. Toney obviously had great success below and above light heavyweight. It is absurd to suggest that a motivated and in peak shape would not be a force at light heavyweight.

 

Exactly!

Watch this fight!!! I tell people every time, watch this fight!! Spinks won, and IS the greatest LHW ever but Qawi gave him work and almost knocked him out a couple times in the back few rounds. It was 9 rounds to 6 over a 15 rounder and Qawi was winning at the end with Spinks needing to run and conserve energy for long spells. Spinks boxed beautifully and truthfully beat the hell out of Qawi for the beginning of the fight but Dwight found his rhythm and really did some great work against the LHW goat in his prime. The fight was awesome and people even wanted to see it again because of how strong Qawi came on late, so how is this defeat a knock against Qawi? It shows that if you have one of the best performances of your career as a divisional goat you can snag away a decision in a fight that people wanted to see again.

As far as the fight, I think Qawi would out-activity him, he could go, and James would often lack the discipline required to go with someone as active and skilled as Qawi. If trench warfare between Toney and McCallum was something then I can only imagine how great this fight would be. Toney could outbox him, but he didn't stay at range like Spinks did. Toney would indulge an inside fight with Qawi and probably get outhustled imo.

 

I thought Toney lost 1 of the Griffin fights and I thought he lost the Thadzi fight.

The problem with you and Cobra is you're creating a fantasy scenario that didn't actually transpire in real time. Toney never had any stand out wins or performances at Light Heavyweight, so suggesting he turns in a career best performance to be beat one of the toughest Light Heavyweights H2H is a big stretch.

I think @JohnThomas1 had it spot on at Cruiserweight this would be a better fight but in regards to Light Heavyweight Qawi is a big favourite.

And I'm baffled that certain posters are using Spinks fight to suggest Qawi is overrated when Spinks is one of the greatest of all time at the weight.

 

Cruiserweight closer but i'd still minorly favor the Qawi from the first Holyfield fight.

 

You are simply not being truthful. There was NEVER anytime where Dwight came close to stopping Spinks or badly staggering him.
It was a boring fight that disappointed the fans who were expecting something totally different.
Dwight even tried to BS everyone at the post fight conference saying that the reason he couldn't apply alot of pressure is because he entered the fight with a cold.
Watch the first round and Spinks cracked him with a righthand that gave Dwight serious reservations about putting pressure on Spinks.