Not typically do you see fighters who so clearly love the sheer brutality of boxing the best way Dwight Muhammad Qawi as soon as did. Fighters who smile after they take punches. Fighters who actually and figuratively shrug off with fun clear photographs which are, to anybody else, something however a laughing matter. Qawi, previously Dwight Braxton, completely exemplified his moniker of “The Camden Buzzsaw” as, at solely 5’7″, he mowed down a lot larger males with ruthless effectivity whereas exhibiting an unmistakable zeal for fight.
Qawi’s instincts in direction of warfare had a well-defined story main as much as his boxing profession. Raised on the onerous streets of Camden, New Jersey, a 19-year-old Braxton was despatched to Rahway State Jail for armed theft. There, he realized to field below the mentorship of fellow inmate and former light-heavyweight contender, James Scott. Following his launch in 1978, and with no newbie expertise, he turned professional and inside simply three years “The Camden Buzzsaw” would take the WBC mild heavyweight championship belt from future Corridor of Famer Matthew Saad Muhammad, within the course of meting out a vicious battering to “Miracle Matthew.”
Qawi made three profitable defenses of his title, together with stoppage wins over Jerry “The Bull” Martin and Eddie Davis, earlier than shedding on factors to Michael Spinks in a high-profile unification bout. Two years later, Qawi rebounded by including a WBA cruiserweight (then junior-heavyweight) title belt to his file. And as destiny would have it, the second protection of his championship got here towards Olympian and future legend, Evander Holyfield.
Whereas Holyfield additionally confronted appreciable hardship rising up within the housing tasks of southeast Atlanta, Evander loved an intensive newbie profession that culminated with him representing the US within the 1984 Olympics. Nonetheless, he was disadvantaged of his Olympic goals when he was controversially disqualified for hitting on a “break” command hardly anybody at ringside even heard. Regardless of the setback he was nonetheless thought-about among the many cream of the crop on a US Olympic crew that took 9 out of twelve attainable gold medals. And certainly it was Holyfield, in simply his second 12 months as a professional, who turned the primary member of that Olympic crew to problem for a world title.
A Holyfield vs Qawi match-up not solely represented an enormous leap in school for Evander in simply his twelfth professional bout, but in addition an unlimited threat for the younger prospect, contemplating Qawi’s ruthless strategy, power, and physicality. Holyfield, having by no means gone previous spherical eight in his brief profession, was confronted with having to maintain at bay a relentless, Henry Armstrong-like perpetual-motion machine for fifteen rounds, with solely his hometown followers at Atlanta’s Omni Enviornment to help him. Discuss a frightening process.
In some ways, Holyfield vs Qawi I’d show to be harking back to “The Thrilla In Manila”, an Ali vs Frazier kind warfare for the cruiserweight division. Like Joe Frazier, Qawi was at a big drawback by way of top and attain and was thus compelled to stroll by way of repeated crisp combos from one of the vital correct sharpshooters in current boxing historical past simply to get into punching vary. However whereas Holyfield held clear benefits by way of youth, measurement, and pure expertise, like Muhammad Ali in Manila a decade earlier than, he was nonetheless in robust as he struggled towards a decided and teak robust warrior who refused to take a backwards step, no matter what “The Actual Deal” related with.
Within the first two rounds, Evander boxed with self-discipline and saved Qawi at bay, however his innate warrior mentality acquired the higher of him within the third when he met the champion head on with a barrage of vicious photographs. The match developed into trench warfare, as Holyfield related with the cleaner punches whereas Qawi acquired house with the heavier photographs. “The Camden Buzzsaw” was additionally ripping hurtful blows to Holyfield’s physique, a sensible funding which might take a toll on the 23-year-old challenger.
In spherical 4, Qawi efficiently cornered Holyfield and commenced to attain extra often, finally hurting the challenger with a proper hand as Evander tried to pivot off the ropes. For a lot of the center rounds, Holyfield’s probabilities of successful his first world title seemed more and more dim. Whereas he was nonetheless successful rounds, the challenger gave the impression to be preventing to succeed in the end line, whereas Qawi seemed to be simply getting began.
However responding to the urging of his coach, Lou Duva, Holyfield got here alive in spherical eight with a sudden burst of vitality to place Qawi on the receiving finish of at the least twelve unanswered punches, and sending a transparent message that the challenger had loads left within the tank. It’s wonderful to suppose that in Holyfield’s first time being prolonged previous the eighth he was in a position to preserve such a hellish tempo towards a fighter of Qawi’s caliber. Certainly, it appeared as if Holyfield had extra vitality within the latter rounds than he did in the course of the combat.
Spherical 13 epitomized the explanation Ring Journal would later rank Holyfield vs Qawi because the forty sixth best title combat within the lengthy historical past of pugilism. “The Actual Deal” opened it with a fusillade of punches which seemed like they’d by no means finish, however then Qawi was proper on high of him like a rabid canine trying to even the rating. Holyfield punctuated the spherical with a picturesque proper uppercut-left hook-right hand mixture that had the champion’s head trying like a pace bag, to which Qawi responded by dropping his palms as if to goad Evander additional into his masochistic recreation. How Qawi survived the spherical is anybody’s guess, however positive sufficient “The Camden Buzzsaw” confirmed no reluctance to press the motion within the closing six minutes.
If spherical 13 was the finale of a very nice combat, spherical fifteen was the encore. Each gladiators laid all of it on the road within the closing three minutes and after the bell rang, Holyfield was credited with throwing a complete of 1290 punches, with practically half touchdown. Qawi scored 55 p.c of his 1018 punches in his personal proper, however two of the three judges gave Holyfield the nod and the cruiserweight championship of the world in simply his second 12 months as knowledgeable. In any case, the underside line is that Holyfield vs Qawi is without doubt one of the greatest fifteen spherical fights of current boxing historical past.
Quickly after the judges’ determination was introduced, Evander complained of complications and he was admitted to hospital the place the brand new champion was given 9 quarts of intravenous fluid to fight a kidney ailment that stemmed from a state of extreme dehydration. Years later, Evander claimed to have misplaced fifteen kilos throughout the Qawi combat and that he practically give up the game because of this.
Nonetheless, it’s not not like Evander Holyfield to emerge from a life-and-death ring wrestle as a greater boxer, as he would later reveal by shifting as much as change into heavyweight champion and in his well-known trilogy towards Riddick Bowe within the Nineties. Qawi, then again, would by no means actually be the identical, getting blasted out by Holyfield in 4 rounds of their rematch after which struggling defeats to George Foreman and Robert Daniels within the years that adopted.
However whereas “The Camden Buzzsaw” and “Commander Evander” carried the cruiserweight championship for under a mixed three years, the 2 warriors ceaselessly put the fledgling weight class on the map with one of many best back-and-forth donnybrooks of the trendy period. Certainly, a powerful case will be made that Holyfield vs Qawi I stays essentially the most grueling and action-packed combat in all of cruiserweight historical past. — Alden Chodash
