Hey. This is my first post here and I'm hoping for it to be a regular thing. Over the last few years I've gotten away from watching the sport, but I'm going to change that. I thought I would begin this by watching Michael Spinks vs Dwight Muhammad Qawi. I'm very interested in this period of time for the 175 pound division. I've always been told this was a excellent time for this weight class with many great fights. So it made sense to me to watch this important fight between two of the elite. I was very impressed with the jab and footwork of Spinks. His jab was pinpoint accurate and he would glide away from Qawi's flurries and still be in position for more punches. So little wasted movement. I really liked how he would hook of the jab and turn Qawi. I think at points he could have used slightly more right hands behind the jab but Qawi was game throughout and didn't let up. But still despite the obvious swarming skills of Qawi, he rarely landed many consistent shots. I felt like he could have used more of a jab to make Spinks think. The big difference in amateur careers showed here. When Spinks sensed the tone of the fight changing he made Qawi pause with a flurry or several jabsand Qawi had towprk very hard to get any kind of momentum back Just how big a win was this for Spinks? Qawi was only relatively early on in his career here. Was this before his peak? Over the history of this division how big a win is this for Spinks? Where does this rate amongst the best performances of Spinks career? This content is protected
It was a great performance by Spinks. I think it is his best 175 lb. performance. Still, Dwight seemed to have a little less fire and conditioning than in Saad II. Dwight seemed to peak in '82. It was a huge win for Spinks as it unified the 175 lb. title for the first time since the days of Bob Foster ten years earlier.
This was a BIG fight. Other than matchups between Leonard/Duran/Hagler/Hearns, this was about as big as it got. Maybe Pryor/Arguello I was bigger, but that's about it. Both fighters were deemed to be in their prime. I don't remember the odds, but I'm sure those were close as well. This is undoubtedly Spinks biggest LH scalp. I suppose beating Holmes for the Heavyweight title was a bigger win, but that's about it. I think Spinks earned Qawi's respect early in the fight and it carried throughout the fight. The one thing I remember vividly is Spinks head movement off the jab. Spinks was whistling a lot of heavy shots by Qawi. He didn't land much, but Qawi never got too aggressive with his pressure. It was a great performance by Spinks but probably a little disappointing as a fight at the time. Much more fireworks were expected.
Great win by Spinks. The fight was seen as disappointing for sure and as Natonic states there were big expectations. Spinks however followed a sensational Eddie Futch gameplan to an absolute tee. The gameplan made for a both a pretty tame affair and a solid Spinks victory with nothing left to chance. Both were at the top of their game and it was a huge fight at the time and very mouth watering. Braxton/Qawi felt Spinks big power early and tbh i think that helped set the tone of the fight. One for the purists.
https://www.si.com/vault/1983/03/28/625152/a-crowning-achievement https://vault-cdn.si.com/SI_ISSUE_I...ports_Illustrated_43624_19830328-001-2048.jpg
Spinks is unfairly remembered by the public for Tyson blowout. But his finest performance wasn't against the aging Holmes but his win over Braxton. Eddie Futch once again masterminded a brilliant strategy which Spinks followed to a tee like a young Bowe did when winning the title against Holyfield. Braxton showed in his wars at CW with Holyfield what a tough a dangerous fighter he really was.
