Was Mathew Saad Muhammad past his prime against Dwight Qawi ( Braxton ) ?

Saad hadn't looked real great against Jerry Martin just before that, and Martin was nothing. I do think he'd started back down the other side of the mountain, though he'd never have beaten Braxton anyway. A stand-up boxer puncher with wide, over the top punches is meat for an aggressive swarmer with great defense like Braxton.

 

Matt was unquestionably on the slide by December 81, he didn't look great against Sutherland 7 months earlier.

Chances are he was never the same after Yaqui 2 in the Summer of 80 - he did look good against Mwale in his next fight but but got Mwale out of there early & his resilience wasn't really tested by the not too durable Lotte.

Imo the run of defeats after Braxton 2 were not helped by the 2 lossesto Dwight but were not solely down to those 2 fights - Saad was having hard fights for years, imo there was a build of damage accumulated over a number of years and a number of hard fights.

 

Probably was by a year or so, if he was, IMHO, he would've beaten Dwight in a tough fight.

 

He was slightly past his best.

He looked fine in his previous fight against Jerry Martin.

I think his camp took Braxton lightly. Saad weighed 181 the morning of the fight and had to make weight in a few hours. Remember, weigh ins were the morning of the fight back then. After quickly losing the weight, he had recover in only a few hours. This quick weight loss/recovery affected his stamina. Braxton probably would have won anyway, but Saad didn't have the recuperative powers, stamina he usually displayed. After this fight, he was pretty much done.

 

i'm going by the story that appeared in KO Mag after the fight. His camp claimed he weighed 181 a few hours before the first weigh in. He exercised, than weighed 177.5 at the first weigh in. then excercised again and finally made 175. He then had like 7 or 8 hours to recover before the fight.

His camp might have made up the 181 thing as a built in excuse.

If you watch the fight on you tube, he does not have the musculature of his previous fights. He doesn't look cut. I think they took Braxton lightly.

 

He seemed to have passed his peak, he had been through alot of wars by that point.

 

Couldn't agree more with your assessment. Many fighters who turned pro early were 'losing it' much earlier.
And look at Saad's fights! He had that LaMotta/Quarry chin OR MORE! Who knows when a fighter's had enough?; surely Matt (Saad) had taken pure hell by that point, and entertained us as well (Roman Gladiators anyone?)

 

Yes he was on the decline a few fights before then totally shot for the rematch

 

I have a copy of the original broadcast and this was the pre-fight story shown. Saad was overweight at 181 and had to lose 7 pounds in very quick time. Saad made no excuses and was very upfront about having troubles making weight. He seemed very confident beforehand and he should have been he was 18-0 over a 5 year period with 15 kos in which he beat a murders row of Marvin Johnson twice, Yacqui Lopez twice, John Conteh twice and tough nuts like Richie Kates and Mwale.

 

Saad was slightly past his best but Braxton was on-point.

Saad came out jabbing and was disciplined early. Braxton put on a clinic for how to outbox much taller opponents, his upper body movement was very cagey, he went underneath Saad's long jab to land his own jab to the body and in that crouch he would explode over the top with hard counter straight rights. By the mid rounds Saad was tiring and decided to go inside with Qawi who tore him up with crisp body punches and was getting more confident with every round before completely taking over for the stoppage win.

Qawi showed excellent transition between offense and defense in the first bout. He gave Saad only his forehead to aim at peeping out of that crouch and fought the perfect fight for the peek-a-boo style. Qawi was in peak condition he looked like granite and was so strong. Saad by no means gave up, he took a sustained beating and tried many times to change the tide of the fight with his money straight right but Qawi deflected it, so then Saad tired to brawl a little on the inside, he had been so successful doing that over his championship reign but like we all know now, Qawi is one of the most talented tough inside fighters we have seen.

 

Because Mathew Saad Muhammad was so easy to hit and absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment even when he won, it was almost predestined that he was going to have a very short shelf life as a top fighter. Largely due to his tremendous heart, Saad had quite a bit of success for a time despite his obvious flaws. In my opinion, Saad was overrated although I consider him to be such an exciting fighter and greatly admired his awesome fighting spirit. While I believe that Saad was going downhill by the time he fought Dwight Muhammad Qawi, the latter simply was a better fighter at his peak than even a vintage Saad.

- Chuck Johnston

 

Qawi was a better fighter, quicker, harder to hit, and just as tenacious. Saad had a good run, but ran into a better guy. Spinks would have taken him, too.

 

Yes imo ,his wars had begun to catch up with him. He looked to be operating from memory at times in that fight.