Goodbye to Dwight Muhammad Qawi at the age of 72.
"The Camden Buzzsaw" held the WBC light heavyweight and WBA cruiserweight titles with an aggressive, stalking style that ripped through opponents, leaving them tattered and torn.
Known as Dwight Braxton before his name change, Braxton suffered a defeat and a draw in his first three professional bouts following his release from Rahway State Prison in New Jersey, before ripping off an impressive string of wins that included a KO win over former WBA champion Mike Rossman and a decision win over top contender James Scott in Braxton's return to Rahway.
Braxton's win streak earned him a WBC title shot against Matthew Saad Muhammad, an anchor of network television known for his exciting brawls and miracle finishes to keep his title.
There would be no miracle as Braxton punished Saad Muhammad on his way to a tenth-round knockout to take his title.
Braxton added three quality wins, all stoppages, in his three title defenses against Jerry "The Bull" Martin, Saad Muhammad in a rematch, and Eddie Davis before a highly anticipated unification match in Atlantic City against WBA champion Michael Spinks.
The fight appeared to be a can't-miss action pairing with Spinks's one-punch power and Braxton's charging style. Braxton didn't fight as aggressively as expected, and Spinks chose to box rather than bang, as Spinks won a deserved but disappointing unanimous decision.
Braxton changed his name to Dwight Muhammad Qawi after the fight, winning a few fights before a Spinks rematch was cancelled when Qawi injured himself in training.
Qawi was short (5'7), and there were questions about his size when he moved to the cruiserweight division for a 1985 title challenge in South Africa against WBA champion Piet Crous.
Qawi cut Crous down in eleven rounds to win the title and followed up with a brutal sixth-round stoppage over former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks in his first defense.
This set up a nationally televised fight on ABC in July 1986 from Atlanta's Omni against unbeaten Olympian Evander Holyfield that is still the best cruiserweight fight ever (apologies to Vasily Jirov vs James Toney) with Holyfield winning a split decision over fifteen rounds of hell (fifteen rounders were soon to become extinct) in a fight that could just as easily gone to Qawi.
The Holyfield loss took away (understandably) the best of Qawi, who lost a very questionable decision to former WBA champion Ossie Ocasio and knocked out former IBF boss Lee Roy Murphy in six before the Holyfield rematch, where Holyfield took Qawi out in four rounds.
Qawi was the biggest name in the early portion of George Foreman's comeback, creating quite a dichotomy in the ring with the 6'4 Foreman against the 5'7 Qawi.
Qawi's seventh-round stoppage loss looked like the end of his career, but the Buzzsaw wasn't finished yet, winning four fights in a row to qualify for the WBA cruiserweight title vacated by Holyfield when he moved to heavyweight.
Qawi would lose a split decision to Daniels and would lose his next fight to Mike "The Bounty" Hunter before winning seven of his final nine fights, including a win over former IBF champion Rickey Parkey and a decision loss to former WBA champion Nate Miller.
Qawi retired after the 1992 loss to Miller but returned in 1997-98 with three lower-level fights, winning two of them.
Qawi trained fighters after his retirement and worked with patients at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center before his battle with dementia in recent years.
Qawi was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004, but I wonder how his career could have been even better.
What would have happened had he been more aggressive against Michael Spinks?
Would that have been enough to win the biggest fight of his career?
What if the first Holyfield fight had been held anywhere but Atlanta?
Would that have nudged Qawi on the judges' cards?
Either way, Dwight Muhammad Qawi was a deserving inductee into the Hall of Fame and led an interesting life that might make a great film.
We welcome Dwight Muhammad Qawi to the Forgotten Superstars Universe.
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