The ESB British Forum Encyclopedia

Has anyone done 1 on Hopkins or Rafa Marquez yet? Not being lazy i would check through but I have to go out quickly. If not Ill try an get 1 done soon :good

 

Name: Matthew Saad Muhammad (Matthew Franklin)

Height:: 5 ft. 11in (180cm)

Birth: 1954-06-16

Boxing record
Total fights 58
Wins 39
KO's 29
Losses 16 (8 by stoppage)
Draws 3

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The term 'Comeback Kid' is one that has been used numerous times to describe a fighter who can come back from the brink of despair. Other fighters, Nigel Benn for instance, have been at their most dangerous when buzzed and seemingly on the way out. Some men have simply had good enough punch resistance that they can soak up their opponents onslaught until they punch themselves out.

Matthew Franklin was all of the above; his moniker was 'Miracle' Matthew, and it was not without reason.

After his Mother died, his Aunt sent Matthews older Brother to get rid of him. The story is that Saads brother left him by Philli's Franklin Parkway (hence the name he was given, supposedly he was born Maxwell Loach) and ran away. Found wandering the streets with no knowledge of his name, family or birth date, Matthew Franklin was taken in by Nuns and became the scrappiest of orphans, bred in the tough landscape of Philidelphia, one of the United States' premier breeding grounds for fighters. His rough upbringing has been well documented; I'm a boxing fan first and foremost so let's get onto the fights that make Gatti-Ward look like Klitschko-Ibragimov :deal

As was the way back in the day, Saad fought in a division full of sharks, and had to fight them all from the get go. Saad, with a 6-1 record, defeated future Cruiserweight great Marvin Camel over ten (taking his '0') just after he took the '0' of future Light Heavyweight champion Mate Parlov over 8. That is an astounding level of competition

Subsequent to this, Franklin underwent a change in his boxing DNA. After losing a return to Camel (Majority Decision) and drawing with Parlov, Saad was disappointed with a further loss....to future ATG light heavyweight Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (Gregory)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZXLO78xuLw[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD4SWDhr5bQ&feature=related[/ame]

From there on in, anyone trying to outbox, outfight or outwork Matthew Franklin would be met with a tirade no man would want to face. Saad could spring out of nowhere, seemingly on the cusp of being sparked, only to land combinations and solid single shots that would detatch his opponents from his senses.

In an NABF title fight over 12, Olympic medallist and future World champion Marvin Johnson was about to find out about this the hard way. Saad demonstrated his ability to throw bomb after bomb without relenting. His jab was a potent weapon as well, but he was renowned as a slow starter. The only way to wake him up, was to nearly put him to sleep.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8_3tAsHrGA[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0__6iaAZQHU&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFu82x4ZiQY&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iihqq79pjBM&feature=related[/ame]

Early deficits, inhuman absorbing of punishment and heroic, action-packed comebacks were about the become a staple of Matthew Franklin (now Saad Muhammad) fights. Three fights later he faced Richie Kates, a dangerous puncher and top class opponent. Kates had pushed 175lb kingpin Victor Galindez very, very hard.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QrjgZmhk2w&feature=related[/ame]

5:57; Saad takes a MASSIVE right hand and goes down like he's been struck by Julian Jackson. Larry Holmes would be proud of his powers of recovery.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmlPImDCe6o&feature=related[/ame]

'Miracle' Matthew came back to bludgeon Kates away from his senses. The first part is also on youtube, this is one of the great light heavyweight fights, and I'd suggest everyone with a passing interest in this part of the Encyclopedia should check it out :good

Saad then beat Yaqui Lopez, a top contender of the time, in 11 rounds. IMO a fairly lacklustre performance, their rematch, with fights with Marvin Johnson and John Conteh sandwiched in between, was the Ring FOTY and a truly classic fight!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvZ63OfA60k[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG9hjYOwpXw&playnext=1&list=PL9D201512C25FBFD6[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UetXIJ5PH4[/ame]

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[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6NqKZSpNPk&feature=BF&list=PL9D201512C25FBFD6&index=5[/ame]

That fight was for the WBC title; a title Saad won in a rematch with Marvin Johnson, a shorter fight but with no less excitement! Both men had matured, but they put on no less of an effort, slugging it out 'til the end! Johnson had leapfrogged Saad with a TKO win over Mate Parlov, and would subsequently defeat ATG 175lber Victor Galindez for the WBA strap after this crushing defeat to Saad. The true mark of a top competitor.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxtkvjslW2A[/ame]

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Saad Muhammads first defence was against the English stylist John Conteh. Armed with a beautiful jab, inherant toughness and a high Boxing I.Q, Contehs progress was stunted by severe problems with his right hand. In this fight however, which is arguably my personal favourite fight of all time, Contehs sporadic right is used to great effect. It takes, you guessed it, another jaw-dropping rally from Saad to snatch a points victory, in one of the great 15 round fights. The build-up gives a better gauge than I can of where both men were at going into this fight, it really gives you a perspective that not even hindsight can give. Conteh of course was a former champion himself, with solid wins ovr perenniel contender Yaqui Lopez (without a doubt a 'belt holder' in any other age) and Ahumada, known for a fantastic jab and varied assault despite an average reach and the aforementioned injured right hand.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek_fhxbzXpk[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFngeYj0s7w&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv7iIW5p1MQ&feature=related[/ame]

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In the return, Conteh was shot. Grazing shots sent him to la-la land, and I'd say it's a fight for completists only.

Seven subsequent defences, all by stoppage, followed. The most impressive (aesthetically and the opponent) was Lotti Mwale. No Afrobum ;-)

Undefeated with a KO1 Tony Sibson and a points win over Marvin Johnson, the uppercut that Saad takes him out with is picture perfect and has to be seen to be believed.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZJdTo4Nqfo[/ame]

But Saad, for all his balls, knew his style was catching up with him. Trying to revert to his earlier jab-and-move style, he had sadly had his reflexes beaten out of him in his years of fighting Elite-level opposition. Dwight Muhammad Qawi, a 5'6 tank famous for his wars at Cruiser/Heavy as much as his awesome tenure as a Light Heavyweight, beat Saad emphatically to take his title, his prime, and his time at the top of the division away. Qawi (then Dwight Braxton) a tough ex-con with a Joe Frazier-esque bob and weave, was too tough, too wise, and too fresh for Saad to make another miraculous comeback against.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EiBLjeBXac[/ame]


Saad, like so many others, fell into the pattern of comebacks, losing to poor opponents and souring his record. He was tapped out in about ten seconds by a Japanese wrestler in an 'MMA' fight in the early 90's A real curiosity this, and before it's time, it certainly delivered more than Ali-Inoki in terms of excitement :rofl If I'm not wrong, the 'UWF' was Masakatsu Funaki's stable; a true pioneer of Mixed Martial Arts. Seems the 'wrestler vs boxer' debate was settled a long time before Dana White decided to shut James Toney up.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqX8oR9QxOw[/ame]

Matthew Saad Muhammad remains however, one of the most exciting, hard-as-**** AND talented light heavyweights the sport has ever seen. Watching his fights can even leave a hardened veteran feeling humbled :good


EDIT: I just checked on wikipedia; As of July 2010, Muhammed was homeless and living in a shelter in Philadelphia.

What a shame that is. I just had to fight back tears lads. Great article on it with some VERY interesting tidbits about not only his current plight but his career

http://www.rhd.org/rhdstories/miraclematthew.aspx

Done a better job than I have in summarising his career I think Far less waffle :good

 

TheGreatA, IMO one of the best posters on ESB, produces some fantastic highlights. Including anything off 'Illmatic' gets him bonus points as well :yep 2:31; Saad getting brutally dropped by a Kates bomb, from a different angle. His durability is immeasurable.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIABKl7qKn0[/ame]

For those that want a flavour of Saad. I would recommend delving even deeper than I have above; Matthew Saad Muhammad is an ATG. An easy way to describe him to the uninitiated is 'Gatti Against Elite Opposition', although that in itself is selling him very short indeed. :good

 

ill look foward to that 1 flea when i got some more time. looks like it will take a while:good

ur Fighting Harada has been my fav so far:good

 

this thread is absolutely top drawer :good

 

Thanks mate but that one essentially wrote itself; not hard to find superlatives to describe Masahiko :good

As for Saad, even if you don't read all that mumbo jumbo check out his fights with Johnson (both of 'em but especially the first) Conteh (1st fight, the one I've posted) the 2nd Lopez fight and the Kates fight from where I've noted. You will see some herculean battles, and some of the greatest Light Heavies of all time doing their thing :good

I think the 175 rankings will come down to whether posters rate the Charles-Moore-Johnson-Bivins etc etc era higher than the Galindez-Saad-Johnson-Conteh etc etc era.

Foster is an anomaly; as I stated previously, I rate him so highly due to his run and obvious ability (one of the hardest punchers of all time, arguably) rather than his opposition. The best fighters he faced were at Heavy, when he was pretty much 'name' cannon fodder without benefitting from the advantages he had at 175lbs.

6:14 on the Saad-Mwale footage; come on chaps, tell me that isn't one of the best uppercuts you've ever seen :yep

 

This thread is awesome on a purely educational basis and in my view should be a sticky...:good

 

deal

 

Flea, that is ****ing brilliant :good

 

Cheers mush :good

 

:deal

 

I watched Saad-Mwale recently and like you say that uppercut "has to be seen to be believed" :yep

 

It's a beaut'. Considering Mwale being well regarded going in (had a couple of solid wins and undefeated) the way Saad, as we all know, a slow starter, dealt with him is very impressive indeed. He had genuine two-fisted power but where he often threw when he was coming off a hiding he tended to bludgeon people with lots of hard shots, not really stopping them on accumulation (although he did have to wear out some very durable guys) but not taking them out with one shot. That uppercut is perfect in it's delivery, smooth, but accurate and destructive. Archie Moore, Ezzard Charles and their pewes wouldve been proud of it.

With his toughness, heart and ability Matthew Franklin would've been amongst the top fighters in any era. He would pick up wind against Moore, Charles, Johnson and Bivons in a series I'm sure, although pushed to pick a winner in a single fight I'd find or hard to pick him. Someone smart with a good tank and a good chin would take the distance and outmanouver him I think, and some of the harder punchers might be crafty enough to tale him out. As we know, being overzealous and trying to finish when you have him hurt is not a good idea, I would imagine Charles and Moore would figure put they should step back, await his next rush and pick their shots. Roy Jones is just about the perfect fighter you'd want if you were betting your life on finding someone to definitely beat a Prime Saad Muhammad.There was an article in The Ring that asked who would win between the veteran B-Hop and Prime Saad. Bad matchup IMO. Whilst the gameplan king would no doubt know how to evade Saad and would probably stun him at some point, he lacks the legs of a peak Jonandorra the engine and power of a peak Qawi. Saad was athletic enough and gung ho enough to get to him late and either force a stoppage or win enough of the rounds. Over 15 he'd stop 'Nard for sure IMO. He'd just get overwhelmed.

From the onset of his career, Saad took on very stern opposition, and until his decline usually bludgeoned his way through them. An ATG for sure IMO.

I've come to the conclusion that, IMO, he deserves the nod over Qawi for depth and opposition, despite his two losses to him (the 2nd one being fairly irrelevant as he was shot to ****)

Such a fan friendly fighter as well.

 

Great post Flea!