Tommy came from an era where feinting was still a fine art form. He was also a fine infighter, something which wasn't natural to Qawi. Gibbons could feint his jab, getting Qawi to commit his intended counterjab first, then use his superb boxing skills to capitalize on Ike's automatic responses to his feinted jabs. Gibbons UD 15 Qawi
I like Qawi's toughness and pressure against Gibbons' defensive prowess. Gibbons feinting would give him opportunities to score and take the play at times. But the difference is Qawi's pressure...and I would say that Qawi was very much at home fighting on the inside!!! I don't feel Gibbons would have possessed the power to get respect for his feinted jabs...Qawi faced harder punchers than the power Gibbons would have presented to him IMO....He would come forward pressing the pace enough to take a decision. Qawi by unaniamous decision.
It's a good discussion. Ike's trainer Quenzell McCall was the one who revealed that Qawi was not a natural infighter, but had to learn how to fight on the inside. McCall also brought up the fact that Dwight's habit of using his mouth to breath was too well ingrained to be broken by the time McCall and Wesley Mouzon began working with him. Many still assume that exposure of his white mouthpiece was some kind of disdainful sneer. That Qawi never got his jaw broken says something for the quality of his defensive prowess. I studied Qawi more carefully after reading McCall's comments about his charge, and it became obvious that he was indeed a manufactured infighter. That is NOT to say he wasn't very much at home on the inside, but I don't believe he was quite as good at it as Tommy. Remember that when Gibbons was 34, he survived 15 rounds with Dempsey on his feet in part by smothering Jack's attack on the inside. Qawi, like Louis, Napoles and Arguello, was an aggressive counterpuncher at his best, slipping shots to deliver his own while moving in. As I previously suggested, I expect that Tommy would induce Dwight to initiate the punching with convincing feints, confusing Qawi, and leaving him foundering a bit. Like you, I don't think Tommy's power would have troubled Ike much, although Gibbons was a far more dangerous puncher than older brother Mike. Rather, his strategem would have been to befuddle and frustrate Qawi into losing his poise and composure as he found himself placed in a position of having to abandon his stylistic comfort zone in an effort to attain some control of the action. Neither man had the power necessary to trouble the other. But so much of Dwight's effectiveness was based on neutralizing a taller opponent's height and reach advantage by slipping past and countering their jabs. Through skillful feinting, I speculate that Tommy would be able to keep Qawi stymied at long range, then control the action slightly better when in close quarters. Regardless, you posed an interesting question about a very intriguing matchup, and I've enjoyed analysing it with you. Cheers!
Thank you for the insightful analysis, L. Your opinion of Gibbons being able to effectively neutralize Qawi on the inside (to an extent) is one I share with you. Gibbons would have had in no trouble going the full route. I just felt Qawi's overall activity and pressure would have been sufficient for a decison win. I have a question in re to being a natural infighter. Whether a fighter has inherent instincts for it? I would think those types of guys would be very few and far between...Are you talking about a Roberto Duran? It seemed he fought out of instinct and craft. Ray Arcel said that Duran and Ketchel were the only two that he knew of that just knew "what to do"...Is that what you mean? Otherwise it seems everyone would be a manufactured infighter (in order to learn the craft). Please explain. Cheers, L.
