Qawi credits Saad Muhammad as hardest puncher.......

Franklin's power gets overlooked today. In his prime he was known as a massive puncher. Legit KO power in either hand.

 

I think Qawi would know who hit him the hardest better than me or others. So unless there is a reason to suspect he is saying that for reasons (many boxers do) to elevate himself so that a guy he beat is listed as a harder puncher? Then I have no reason to doubt him. Could be he caught Qawi the cleanest? Hard for me to say

 

There are thunder punchers and lightning punchers. Either can turn the trick.

 

I enjoyed this one. Qawi gave good explanations why he chose who he chose.

 

Not surprised at all at his choices. Like just about all of them, he picks the guy that he beats pretty handily and who in the fights themselves, didn’t seem to trouble him at all with their best shots as the hardest puncher they ever fought while the ones that almost knock his head into the ringside front row are never picked. Fighters can be so predictable.

 

Saad was a massive puncher .. no question there ..

 

He wasn’t a bigger puncher than Holyfield or Foreman though and was already a shot fighter who hardly landed any meaningful looking punch when he fought Braxton.

 

I guess so. Typical of many guys who say the guy they beat was the hardest puncher. Not like Spinks took anything about of Qawi when he hit him and took the fight out of him a little. But Spinks beat him.

 

That’s true. Spinks was regarded as having a big right hand at light heavie and it definitely was a factor once he hit him a few times with it that it discouraged Qawi from fighting his usual fight whereas he seem to pretty much walked right right through the shot Saad without fear of being tagged.

 

Saad hit Braxton with a straight right with about 10 seconds left in the 7th or 8th round of their first fight. He doesnt stagger but does stop throwing. The bell rings and he completely recovers from the blow and resumes his attack the next round.

In the report on the fight in International Boxing, Braxton said that punch dizzied him. So, that is what he is talking about when he says the arena turned upside down.

Saad was fading but he still had power, evidenced by his one punch 2nd Rnd KO of Pete McIntyre a few months later. Braxton said, "he punches Like a mule kicks."

It's debatable whether Saad hit him the hardest, but he's not just making S#it up retroactively.

 

I think Newman and Futch better describe Spinks vs Qawi than saying Qawi got discouraged by Spinks punch/power

https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/09/...ing-out-in-style-with-bowe-in-his-stable.html

Seems to be more about the punches Spinks didn’t throw than the ones he did

 

I love fighter interviews, but the one thing they have a hard time admitting is the guy who beat them was the hardest or the best. Yet something beat them.

 

Saad may well have hit him harder but he was very cautious against Spinks where as he pretty much walked thru Saad. If he was as aggressive as that against Spinks he'd be sorry. Spinks power definitely put him off. He felt some of it early in round 1 but was going backwards at the time of impact.