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

I think there was a lot of mythos here by the Saad camp. I don't believe he was 6 pounds over the day of and you just don't exercise off 6 pounds. As for taking Qawi lightly - let's wake up here guys. Saying they took him lightly is like saying Floyd Patterson took Sonny Liston lightly. Qawi was all me and my boxing buddies were talking about. He was a wrecking ball and I had picked him to win. Now what did a guy watching the tube and reading mags know that Saad and his camp didn't know? If they took him lightly then shame on them. It was simply a case of styles and those wars with Johnson (twice), Lopez (twice), Kates, Martin, Douglas, etc., catching up with him.

 

Matthew was well past his peak. It seemed every fight he had was life or death. To me he was the most exciting TV fighter ever.

His fights with Marvin Johnson and Yaqui Lopez are classic. If you haven't seen them, treat yourself and take the time to watch them.

 

Your memory is correct. I have that magazine and he was 6 pounds overweight at the weigh in. Said there was something wrong with the scales but he still had to lose the weight. That's too much to lose the day of the fight, but doubt it would have mattered. Saad had taken so many punches that his body was giving out and Braxton was tough as nails and would have given Saad all he could handle on his best day.

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call Martin "nothing" - he was the fighter who finally ended James Scott's winning streak, after all.

IMO, Saad had actually improved technically in his recent fights prior to fighting Qawi, but the many wars and weight-making were taking a physical toll on him. I like the way that he methodically broke down two skilled boxers in Vonzell Johnson and Murray Sutherland, but his chin looked a bit shaky in the early rounds against Sutherland and he also suffered bad damage to his lip. Against Martin, he looked weak on the inside and was getting pushed around until he unleashed the sudden flurry that resulted in the controversial stoppage. As others have said, it was well-reported that he had to work hard to make the weight for the first Qawi fight, and this was noted throughout the fight by the commentator (Howard Cosell, IIRC).

Having said that, I also agree that there's a strong possibility that Saad could never beat Qawi under any circumstances, as Qawi was always a superior technician and infighter, and Saad's defense always had more holes than swiss cheese.

 

Fair enough; the "nothing" comment was probably a bit harsh and uncalled for.

 

Prime Saad was better then Qawi.
And Gregory was a better fighter than Spinks.

 

Saad was one of my faves and I was bitterly unhappy when Qawi beat him. As said though, Qawi was just better all-round.

 

He was in his prime he just got beat by a better fighter

 

Gregory better than Spinks? Huh? There's just no argument for that.

 

Wrong. He had been in protracted wars prior. A matter of record.

 

Well, given Eddie's head demons you might have a point but consider:
I don't think I've ever seen a fighter with so much talent than Gregory. Ask the veteran poster John Garfield. A Golden Gloves 'wipe 'em out' career. Jab, big right, multi-left hooks, a jaw that no one could take out. His biggest opponent was himself!
After destroying Marvin (my hero) he balloons to heavy and out of shape and fights Snipes.
Then has to defend against Spinks, having to go into the steam tank to lose 7-8 pounds prior to defending against Spinks. He looked like a shriveled pear when he entered the ring...yet built an early lead despite all that. Spinks decked him big time in the 13th-14th? round but he rose and fought on. Clearly not ready for the defense but fought anyway. Aside: The AP scored their fight a draw. "Never has so little been done with so much talent."
Their rematch was frought with controversy and maybe Eddie would have simply given us another example of his 'underachievment'.
IMO a top all-time great were it not for his 'inner demons'.
I always wanted to meet him and discuss why he ****ed away a potential ATG consideration.
And I still think his plethora of all around skills trumps the 'jinx' in spades!
Hope I gave a good answer to your "there's just no argument" rebuttal.
Blessings...

 

Nice post.

Steve Farhood wrote "An Open Letter to Eddie Mustafa Muhammad" in World Boxing Magazine after the Spinks loss basically telling Eddie he was wasting his talent and that it was ludicrous to step up to Heavyweight so soon before he was to defend against Spinks.

The Spinks/Mustafa rematch non-fight effectively killed what was left of Eddie's career. If he couldn't get motivated to get in shape for a chance to reclaim his title, then the writing was on the wall.
He did have a mini comeback later and got a shot at Kacar, who was, frankly, a mediocre fighter. Eddie looked to be in shape for Kacar, but his vast talent had dissipated substantially by then.

 

What a excellent reply and I am a M Spinks fan :good

no stupid extreme statements, no put downs and insults of the other poster. No pumping yourself up by claiming your right because you are a ex boxer and know more than everyone else,,,, just detailed points and fair opinions, well done dude :rasta

Termite and Dino should take note :bbb

 

...and Foxy, Wass, etc, etc,

 

etc etc, lmao