[1982, Phil. Inquirer] Qawi criticized Joe Frazier, others for taking too many punches

Excerpt from an article I stumbled across recently.

Billy Lyon, A Champion by Any Name, Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 16, 1982.

Dwight Muhammad Qawi, known until Friday as Dwight Braxton, watched what went on in boxing over the weekend, watched Aaron Pryor hammer Alexis Arguello into a busted-nose concussion, watched Ray ‘Boom Boom’ Mancini deliver a crippling blow to Duk Koo Kim.

“There was no science to any of it,” he was saying here yesterday, “just trading punches. Nobody ducked anything. Nobody deflected anything, You do that, something’s got to give.” […] “The secret,” he said, “is never get hit with nothin’. Don’t take anything head on.”

He was called a little Joe Frazier, which wasn’t taken as compliment. “Nothing against Joe Frazier,” he said, “but I don’t take 10 punches to deliver one. I’m a busy fighter, not a one-punch fighter, but I’m a strategical fighter. I don’t lead with my face.”

 

He’s right ....

 

Dwight Qawi had the best defense on a swarmer that I can think of

 

Braxton fought nothing like Frazier. Uneducated boxing people probably came up with the comparison because of there similar size and come forward style even though they both went about it much differently not to mention they were built much differently something part time fans didnt pick up on either.

 

I agree with the Frazier comparison, just like many people compare Tyson to Frazier. Tyson to me was basically an improved Floyd Patterson, rather than Joe Frazier.

 

It's true tbh Frazier's defense would let him down against bigger punches as it did against Foreman. He did well against Ali because Ali didn't have concusive power

 

According to compubox of all the greats Frazier was the best at hitting and not being hit. So this may not be a good comparison. I’m waiting for the book boxing by the numbers to come so I may look at them myself as I had my doubts about it. For the life of me I don’t know how Frazier moves his head around that much without giving himself a headache lol
I always thought Qawi looked more like a refined Marciano then Frazier. Marciano and Qawi would both crouch and lean off the center line to throw their opponents off and make them have to over reach to get into their short range

 

I never got the Frazier comparison either. Qawi was a much more slippery dude defensively and in return was not the Slugger that Frazier was.

 

The Marciano comparison fails for the same reasons Qawi rejected the Frazier comparisons though.

If I had to make a comparison, Qawi probably reminds me of a much heavier version of Duran (other than the crouch). Aggressive but defensively-gifted stalkers with excellent skills and balance, both were very hard to hit clean and had surprising range on their counters and jabs because of their excellent timing.

 

Idk I always hear people trying to compare Qawi to others when the only guy he obviously resembles to me is Marciano. Def a lot smoother with better timing. But he wasn’t as strong and the stamina wasn’t the same. Other then that eye test wise I don’t really don’t see anyone else. I will look for the Duran comparison next time I watch him though for sure

 

Dwight had a point. Though he probably shouldnt have said it. Maybe at that time he may have been feeling himself a little bit. Respect for an alltime legend would be a better look. Especially one that helped him when he was starting out.
They say be careful who you burn on the way up because you see those same people on your way back down.

 

If Frazier took 10 to land 1 how did he ever win a decision?

I'm not the smartest, but I'm not that dumb either.

 

“Nothing against Joe Frazier,” he said, “but I don’t take 10 punches to deliver one. I’m a busy fighter, not a one-punch fighter, but I’m a strategical fighter. I don’t lead with my face.”

it’s all good JT Qawi just means Frazier had a bad defence and when you make a comedic point exaggeration helps. I think it is true that it was the weakest aspect of his game IMO.

 

Well really Qawi was just saying what a lot of guys were saying back then, Fraziers defence wasn’t a strong point and Qawi was the opposite. If I worked that hard on not getting hit and consistently got compared to Chuvalo I’d be a little annoyed.

 

Like i said he had a point but he spent alot of time in Joe's gym. He couldve taken it as an honor to be compared to a champion. Plus the 10-1 comment was uncalled. That wasn't accurate.

Talkin about Joe must have been in style in that era just coming out of the Ali time.