Boxing History
The amazing Dwight Muhammad Qawi, also known as “The Camden Buzzsaw”
Dwight Muhammad Qawi is a slightly underrated, but at the same time the most appreciated ring fighter. While Qawi and his incredible achievements in the ring (that word “awesome” may be thrown around a lot as I write this article) are best known to hardcore fight fans, some of Dwight’s great fights are known to casual fans.
A natural fighter who quickly learned his craft while in prison and without what some would say was the much-needed assist in his amateur career, Qawi turned professional at the relatively advanced age of 25. We’re talking about rapid progress, after a few early bumps on one of the most complex roads.
Before we get into Qawi’s greatest fights and greatest victories, here are some statistics that are simply staggering. Anywhere from the stated 5ft 5in to the perhaps overly generous 5ft 7in, Qawi – who we must never forget has fought at delicate heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight – is either half an inch shorter compared to his current pound- beat the best Naoya Inoue or else he is an inch taller than him. And Inoue is a super bantamweight!
Qawi is a hair shorter than Gervonta Davis, who fought at 140 pounds, but he is actually a lightweight. Qawi is even shorter than current WBO junior bantamweight boss Kazuto Ioka. Truly, it is incredible what Qawi managed to achieve in this sport, always against players who were taller than him, and many of them towered over him.
In addition to learning the tough way that he simply had to perfect the craft of internal combat, Qawi was also an excellent counter-attacker, and his relentless attack earned him his notable nickname. Additionally, Dwight was an excellent defensive fighter, ensuring that his opponent could barely see anything beyond the top of his head when trying to size him up for a punch.
And with every hit, Qawi was blessed with a large chin. With incredible stamina, good power, and a mean streak when needed (which he undoubtedly received during his time in the large house), Qawi was basically the complete package. And after going 3-1-1 in his first few fights, the born Dwight Braxton didn’t taste defeat again for almost four years.
After Mike Rossman’s arrest in May 1981, Qawi returned to Rahway Prison, this time as a star. In a fight against lifer James Scott, Qawi scored a unanimous decision victory and earned a shot at legendary fighter Matthew Saad Muhammad and his delicate heavyweight crown.
Over the course of ten sometimes punishing rounds of punishment for “The Miracle of Matthew,” a man beloved for being able to carry so much bulky cargo only to somehow snatch victory from the snarling jaws of defeat, Qawi kept pouring it. On this night, December 19, 1981, no miracle will occur. Qawi finally stopped Muhammad in the tenth place as his improbable climb to the top was completed.
Well almost. There were two delicate heavyweight titles, and now Qawi wanted Michael Spinks’ belt. After adopting the Muslim faith and changing his name, Qawi followed up with a multiple stoppage victory over Saad and then one over Eddie Davis, retaining his two titles, against Spinks and his “Jinx” in March 1983. Entering the ring with a damaged nose (” the pain was indescribable,” Qawi said of the ruptured septum), Qawi missed 15 engaging rounds. Qawi had his moments and seemed to even score a knockout at one point, but Spinks was truly in great form.
There was talk of a rematch, but Qawi instead moved to the still up-to-date cruiserweight division. And here came Qawi’s most notable fight, perhaps his greatest fight.
After vacating Piet Crous’s WBA cruiserweight belt in July 1985 and winning in South Africa, Qawi all but tortured indigent Leon Spinks, stopping the former heavyweight champion in six. And then, in July 1986, Qawi became involved in a war with Evander Holyfield. Result? Arguably the greatest cruiserweight fight in history and one of the greatest and most action-packed fights of all time, regardless of weight class.
It was 15 rounds of constant warfare as both men dug in for not just a second wind, but perhaps a third or even a fourth. Both men went through hell that day in Atlanta, and Holyfield, who had defeated Qawi, who was ten years his senior, by split decision, was hospitalized after the fight and placed on a drip, wondering if he really wanted to be a fighter.
Qawi, feeling that he had won, years later strongly suggested that Holyfield may have been “working on something”. We will never know, but Qawi says he will never know how Holyfield, who looked exhausted after five or six rounds, came back so powerful later in the fight.
In the rematch, Holyfield, who had obviously decided he wanted to be a fighter, scored an extremely impressive fourth-round KO, marking Qawi’s first ever stoppage. What’s next for the 34-year-old “Buzzsaw”? Of course, a bold step towards the heavyweight division!
First came a few more large cruiserweight fights, Qawi losing a decision to the lovely Ossie Ocasio, Qawi stopping Lee Roy Murphy before Dwight faced George Foreman in March 1988. Foreman, after a few fights and his improbable comeback, was fight Bert Cooper, but Qawi came in on two weeks’ notice instead. And for nearly seven rounds, the out-of-shape, 222-pound Qawi took the fight all the way to the 235-pound, 6-foot-3-inch Foreman!
In the end, however, Qawi ran out of fuel and No Mas finished seventh on the podium. But how the much shorter man knocked his right hand off Foreman’s head, especially in the early rounds. This didn’t bode well for “Gigantic George” and the rest of his comeback.
Qawi wasn’t done yet, and his return to cruiserweight was a whisker away from regaining the WBA belt. Qawi lost a split decision to Robert Daniels in a fight that contested the vacant belt. This took place in November 1989, and Qawi has been fighting for over 11 years. Qawi ultimately retired in 1998 after a decision loss to Tony LaRosa. Dwight’s final tally was 41-11-1(25), with one of those losses coming early in Qawi’s career and eight of those losses coming slow in his career when his best moments were behind him.
Qawi was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003. Today he celebrates his 71st birthday.
Dwight Muhammad Qawi was an amazing fighter!
A national treasure here in the UK, Michael Parkinson, for many of us the king of chat show hosts, died today at the advanced age of 88. Loved by everyone, welcomed by everyone as an interviewer (well, almost everyone; Meg Ryan and her infamous Parky “interview” was another story), Parkinson, at the height of his career, regularly attracted millions of television viewers whenever his show aired.
Just look at the long list of giants Parky sat across from in the studio, asking unlimited, unscripted questions:
Clint Eastwood
Orson Welles
Jimmy Cagney
James Stewart
Woody Allen
John Lennon
John Wayne
Fred Astaire
Betty Davis
Lauren Bacall
Jerzy Best
Peter Seller
Paul McCartney
David Bowie
Michael Caine
Will Smith…… and many others.
Including Muhammad Ali.
Parky interviewed Ali four times – in 1971, twice in 1974 and in 1981.
All four interviews were wonderful in their own way, and Parkinson was somehow able to bring out so many emotions and reactions from Ali: anger, rage, almost uncontrollable laughter (see Ali’s last appearance on Parkinson and what comedian Freddie Starr did to him!) , pride, satisfaction and even fear.
The most renowned interview took place in overdue 1974, just after Ali had reclaimed his throne by dismantling George Foreman in Africa. As enormous as the universe, Ali held nothing back when he spoke, especially his religious beliefs (taught by The Nation of Islam). Ali didn’t like it when Parkinson had the audacity to adopt confrontational tactics in defense of his former champion when the reigning heavyweight champion of the world called Joe Frazier “Uncle Tom.”
“Oh, that’s not Uncle Tom,” Parky said in Joe’s defense.
“He’s not! So why does he insist on calling me Cassius Clay?” Ali shot back. “He’s a different type of Negro, he doesn’t like me. There are two kinds of slaves. To me, Joe Frazier is worse than you! He’s working for the enemy.” “
It was shocking at the time (and Ali’s inflammatory words took his already intense rivalry with Frazier to a whole recent level).
Ali was also angered by the way Parky tried to “trap” him on live TV. Parkinson had previously mentioned in an interview how Ali left school almost illiterate, and later when he used quotes about Ali in a book focusing on his double standards (Ali, preaching the belief that nothing material mattered, lived in a mansion and owned over one Rolls Royce and as Ali said, in accordance with Muslim doctrine, that “all white people are devils”, even though he had many whites on his staff at the time) – Ali really lost it.
Looking genuinely incensed, Ali felt that he had indeed been the victim of a fraud, that he had been cornered.
“You can’t beat me mentally or physically,” Ali spat at his host. “You really are a joke.”
Parky laughed, not at all sincerely, waiting for the cute, cheerful and comfortable version of Ali to return, which he did at the right time.
But for a while, consciously or unconsciously, Parkinson unsettled Ali and angered him in a way that none of his in-ring rivals had ever done. Even Frazier, apparently.
Yes, Parky has interviewed many giants and his shows are gold today. But no show was more entertaining or truly stimulating than Parkinson’s overdue 1974 interview with “The Greatest.”
We will miss Parky greatly. In fact, his great chat was overlooked for many years.
For a fight that lasted just three minutes, the middleweight event that took place on this day 33 years ago between Nigel Benn and Iran Barkley was certainly action-packed. In fact, it could be argued that a one-round street fight masquerading as a professional boxing match contained as many as three or more rounds in those 180 seconds.
Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but not by much.
Barkley, a former WBC middleweight champion, was returning from a break and retinal surgery. Benn was in the process of rebuilding after a somewhat humiliating defeat to Michael Watson. Neither could afford another defeat, and as soon as the red-hot, brutal action began at Ballys in Las Vegas, the former gang member and the former soldier went to war. For a miniature while.
Benn, who said before the fight it would be “very, very explosive,” struck first. Catching the slow-starting Barkley, Benn nearly smeared his man and Barkley was caught icy. Two right shots hit Barkley in the head and Benn settled for an unimaginably quick victory. Barkley tried to fight back, but another right hand spun him around and then a left hand dropped him. Benn kept shooting to the skin as referee Carlos Padilla tried to get inside and count.
Benn was on fire!
But “The Blade,” while not as pointed as it could be (polishing up before that wouldn’t be a bad idea), wasn’t finished yet. Benn marched back in, missing with a wild left. But Barkley now had the distance and his suspiciously penniless eyesight put him out of the game for the time being; Barkley “felt” where Benn was. Swinging both arms in a way that looked like he was punching underwater, Barkley finally found some sort of zipper.
A counter left hook caught the suspect on Benn’s chin, and the “Gloomy Destroyer” was sent flying backwards across the ring, which he had owned for about a minute or less. Barkley was now looking for a quick finish. No one in the ring was nervous. Barkley dug in while Benn was on the ropes, and a street brawl forced fans to temporarily put down their beer cups.
Benn then roared back. Being a fresher, less damaged man, with excellent eyesight, Benn spent only a fraction more time preparing his shots and hit Barkley in the head with another right. Benn’s uppercut followed, and then, as the two traded rights, Benn’s right-left-right combination came in to defeat Barkley for the second time. And then Benn hit another right as Barkley went down.
It was now borderline DQ, but Padilla, who wasn’t having a great night, didn’t even warn Benn for his filthy moves. There was even more to come. Benn then dropped Barkley with a combination, and a confused Padilla slowly waved his arms. The fight is over. But the arguments were to come. Should Barkley be allowed time to recover after Benn punched him a second time while he was on the ground? Surely.
But this fight, this miniature and not sweet but addictive as hell fight, never seemed to have enough time to fully get going. That said, the amount of action crammed into those three minutes was truly staggering.
Can you name a more stimulating, gripping, controversial, constantly watched one-rounder?
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