An in shape motivated Qawi at 200lbs I think would have a good chance against some of the weaker belt holders like Morrison, Seldon, Botha, Bruno, Axel Schultz. Your Thoughts....
Well, he did actually beat Leon Spinks at cruiser, albeit when Leon's career was already basically toast, but I suppose there's a chance that he might have beaten him at the bigger class as well.. I would not give him much of a chance to beat a guy like Frank Bruno though.. Too much size, too much power..
Oh God, poor Leon, I think Qawi took extra pleasure beating the crap out of him because of his loss to Michael. How about when Qawi clowned him so badly by dodging 5-6 left hooks in a row grinning like an evil clown the entire time.
That was an awsome performance by Qawi. He really looked like he didnt like Leon. But back to the main point. Yeah Id give Qawi a chance against some of the weaker HW champs. But if you think about it, during his career the "real" champs were: Ali, Holmes, Spinks, Tyson, Douglas, and Holyfield. He isnt beating any of those guys IMO. Douglas was the weakest of the bunch and despite that when he was firing on all cylinders he was a hell of a fighter. Spinks and Holy beat him three times between the two of them. I think the odds are long against Qawi, primarily because of his size limitations and style. But thats not to sell him short because he is one of my favorite fighters. Fun as hell to watch and a rough night for anyone 175-190.
He landed quite well vs Foreman at heavyweight when both were older...I think he had a chance to beat a lot of the 80's Champs like Tubbs,Page,Witherspoon,and Seldon and would love to see him fight Tommy Burns both 5"7 but that fight may be a lot harder than Seldon or the other under-trained guys
This is how I see it. Qawi could have won an alphabet belt in the mid 1990's vs. the likes of Shultz, Botha or Seldon, but I can't see him beating a lineal champion or ring magazine champion in the 1990's.
If Ike had gone after newly crowned WBA Champion Michael Dokes in early 1983, I believed he could well have pulled off the decision. Dokes had a horrible time with Ocasio's unorthodox crouching style in their April 1980 draw (which would have been a very clear UD for Jaws if scored objectively), and Qawi was a much better defensive fighter than Tex Cobb, the other opponent to have recently battled Michael closely. Dokes had short arms for his height (further attenuated by the hook being his money punch), had "won" KO Magazine's "Feather Fists" award, and Dwight was a stylistic nightmare who was only then outboxed by perhaps the greatest LHW of all time in possibly that ATG's most perfectly executed performance. After watching Dokes get another gift draw in the Weaver rematch, then Ike take his rubber bout with Johnny Davis, I remained convinced of this possibility, but then Michael dropped that WBA Title to Coetzee a week later. So yes, not only do I think he could have staked a claim at heavyweight, but there may have been a window of opportunity to do so during his prime.
