Folks, This fight of 1981 that was aired by ABC and had Howie Cosell calling the heat is classic to me. I saw the fight as it aired back then, yet I had no video machine at the time, so I had to obtain a copy years later. Saad Muhammad was certainly wearing down by late 1981, where as Dwight Braxton was coming into his own prime just then. Oddly, in actual age, Braxton is listed as a year older than Saad Muhammad. However, in boxing yrs, it's a different tale altogether. Saad M. was forced to lose a few pounds the day of the fight because he was over the limit of 175 pounds. He eventually made weight, but at what cost.?.? Meanwhile, the hot-shot Braxton made his weight first time around and fought like a ball of fire. In truth, Saad M. didn't have the spunk in his body from the getgo. He boxed okay and jabbed well for the early rds, but his strength and stamina appeared zapped as the beating progressed by Braxton. This was Dwight Braxton's fight and night to win the WBC title. He was not to be denied. He pressed and constantly chugged forward on Saad M. all through the bout until ending matters with a barrage of hardcore shots in round 10 that forced Saad's trainer to enter the ring which prompted referee Art Mercante to halt the fight... Braxton TKO 10 Saad M. :bbbadmin MR.BILL:hat P.S. Come the 1982 rematch, despite Saad looking refreshed in stopping Peter Mcyntire in the spring of '82 in a warm up bout, Saad M. actually was worse off in his return fight with Braxton / Qawi on HBO.... atsch:shock::roll:
Truly an awesome performance from Qawi.A violent,sadistic ******* that genuinely seemed to enjoy inflicting punishment,but his aggression was controlled and he was methodical and discplined in the beatings that he handed out.Wasn't just some bulked up midget wailing away at bigger guys in there;it was a true surgeon at work.An excellent technician and one of the smartest and most complete pressure fighters of the modern era.
Good points... For a guy like Braxton / Qawi who only had a hair more than a dozen pro fights when he stopped Saad M. for the title in 1981, and had zilch for an amateur career, Braxton / Qawi fought like a seasoned veteran with a high level of skill.... I'm guessing them jail fights with Jimmy Scott in the 1970s paid-off and got him well tuned for his crack at Saad M. in Dec. 1981... His performance was impressive.... Braxton / Qawi was the goods.....thumbsup:bbb MR.BILL:hat
The first fight was great. It was clearly going in Qawi's way though Saad was still firing back making it into a war up until Qawi stopped him. Saad was past prime at the time but even worse going into the rematch. Not taking anything away from Qawi he fought a great strategy but it's clear to see from both fights especially the second that Saad wasn't the same as in 79-81 and was in too many wars taking too much punishment. Qawi was a sadistic ******* in the rematch and that should've been stopped sooner though he did his thing in both fights.
When Saad M. got waxed by Eric Winbush inside 3 rds I knew he was pretty well done.... bbb MR.BILL:hat
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Again, that's great for a mid-summer daydream here in 2011, but them days / nights are gone forever... :roll::deal MR.BILL:hat
Qawi was just too smart and technically sound for Saad.Too disciplined and intelligent to go ape**** and blow his wad like Lopez and Johnson did in their classic encounters with Saad,and too elusive and durable for Saad to make a strong comeback against. Those beatings were always going to catch up to Saad at some point,but it was Qawi who finished him off.Certain types of fighters and fights can permanently break you both physically and mentally - and Qawi and his beatings clearly had it's effect.
It would have been a different fight if Saad was not shot. I still think Braxton would have won but Saad/Franklin was resilient and would press and test Braxton. Saad had the heart of Holyfield but was open defensively and Quawi had a tight defense
Nobody expected to see Saad lose,did they ? Great performance by Qawi. I recall Cosell's nasally tones "No resilience....no recuperative powers....not this time..."
