I think he'd have looked just as good in 81 had he been fighting Yates, Lopez or Conteh. It just so happens he wasn't, he was fighting Qawi.
Yeah, if not for him showing major signs of decline over the course of the 4 fights prior to Qawi you’d have a point. Murray Sutherland certainly wasn’t on the level of the guys you mentioned, but that didn’t stop him from making Saad look like he was stuck in quicksand for 8 rounds.
It happens. Merrick Taylor had one hard fight and was never the same. Saad may not have been "shot" that is a specific condition but he certainly was shopworn. Not peak.
How about after 5 years and 3 months Luf? Eric Winbush 11-6-0 smashed him in 3. Fair to say he was shot just 15 months after the first Qawi fight i think? Of course he took some punishment in those two fights but he'd had a bunch or wars prior. Personally i think Saad was definitely on the way down and at the same time Qawi was a brilliant 175'er who was all sorts of wrong for him.
That’s not what you said, though. You said if he was facing the same the quality of fighter as Conteh, Lopez, and Kates he’d have looked the same. I assume Marvin Johnson falls into that category as well. Do you think Murray Sutherland, Jerry Martin, Vonzell Johnson, and Lotti Mwale were on the same level as those guys? Because those were the 4 he faced prior to Qawi.
Ahhh Bujia, Bujia, Bujia. Sometimes I enjoy your persistent approach to debating, particularly if it's something I feel passionate about (we've had many over the years, most recently I recall 70s Ali being one of them). However, in this particular instance I must be totally honest with you, 70s/80s LHWs really isn't something I feel that strongly about. Honestly, I can't even remember the last time I watched a fight featuring these guys. Probably back when I posted on the thread which was months ago if you check. I'm gonna agree to disagree. It's only my compulsion to reply to messages that has brought me back here, I just don't care enough about it. If you think he's past prime, brilliant maybe you're right. I see it as an excuse, but I'm not strongly opinionated on this one I'm afraid.
Yes, Saad was definitely past it imo. And I see the fight having been much more competitive with prime Saad stopping Qawi in the late rounds. Saad I think was one of the great light heavyweight punchers, and I think he would have lucked out late in the fight with a monster right and finished it shortly after. Qawi to me wasn't the ATG Saad was, and I doubt he had anywhere near that level of heart.
