Michael Spinks W15 Dwight Qawi

Probably my favorite Spinks performance outside of the Johnson fight.

Two of the best the division has seen at the top of the game and they didnt disappoint. Might not be a classic slugfest or a technical masterpiece but it was two highly effective stylists locking horns and producing a very competitive and memorable bout IMO.

 

I thought Qawi gave Spinks a harder fight than is often given credit for. I also thought the fight was more entertaining than most people regard it as. The people who expected an outright slugfest were disappointed, but Qawi kept coming and forced Spinks to stay active and throw a lot of punches; similar to Pernell Whitaker's fight with Azumah Nelson.

 

How does Spinks performance against Qawi compare to Holyfield's performance against Qawi a few years later?

 

Very good question..I think Holyfield's performance was more exciting..and crowd pleasing, whereas Spink's effort was more tactical..I think it ranks with his first victory over Holmes as his best performances...forget all the big knockouts with the Spinks Jinx right hand, the 2 fights where he navigated to 15 round decisions...using his wits are his best showings.

 

i watched this fight again about a month ago, spinks was very good in this fight and fully deserved all his praise but i was left thinking that qawi did not seem to have his usual buzz but am willing to concede that was due to spink`s dispay

 

Yes,Spinks very cleverly managed to neutralise Qawi's assets. Michael's best ever display imo

 

Haven't seen this fight since the original airing (on HBO I believe). Probably one of the better Light Heavyweight boxing displays against a really good opponent of all time. It's a shame this fight and Spinks vs Mustafa Muhammed aren't on Youtbe. You do a search on Spinks and get 3 pages of Spinks vs Tyson. He's too great a fighter to only be remebered for that fight.

 

This fight was a dud. it was the dissapointment of 1983. I wasnt at all impressed by either man, especially Qawi. Dwight had no fire and began losing it in his previous fight. Watching him in the Davis fight, Dwight was a ball of fire in the first round but went curiously flat afterwards which caught Pacehco's notice. Ferdie would ask Spinks who was sitting next to him ringside what could be wrong with Qawi. Mike also was dumbfounded. The Davis fight was Dwight's last great performance.

So when you think about it, Mike's performance wasnt anything special; it's just that Dwight didnt come to win.

it was different in the Holyfield fight where Dwight did show up to fight. I kind of knew Evander was going to pull it out

 

Spinks' was better. He was able to get Qawi's respect early and keep him from getting inside and initiating a war. By contrast, Holyfield failed to get his respect, and so was forced into a toe-to-toe battle and had to simply work his ass off to get the win. Plus he took a lot more punishment than Spinks had to.

Of course, I'm assuming you're referring to the first Holy-Qawi fight. The second, in which Holy KO'd Qawi, was the best performance anyone ever had against Qawi, and may have been Holy's peak performance.

 

Spinks hit Dwight early with a big right that got his attention.

From that point on both were more cautious.

 

Yup.

I think it was his very first punch, about a second or two into the fight.

 

They used to have his KO of Cooney on there.

Looked like a toothpick KO'ing a gorilla.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH7c5MqkeiM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg3d8NjDSYQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvyR68uVV1Y

 

Holyfield won clearer on the cards for me, but Spinks faced the better Qawi, and beat him taking less punishment (although granted Evander dispensed more punishment).

Spinks fought a real cagey fight and wouldn't allow Qawi to do his thing. Qawi started to get into the fight in the later rounds, and got real close on the cards for mine, but Spinks held on to take it.

All things considered though, I would probably say Holyfield's performance was more impressive given that it was only his 12th fight.