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 can be, 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 greater males with ruthless effectivity whereas exhibiting an unmistakable zeal for fight.
Qawi’s instincts in direction of struggle had a well-defined story main as much as his boxing profession. Raised on the exhausting streets of Camden, New Jersey, a 19-year-old Braxton was despatched to Rahway State Jail for armed theft. There, he discovered to field beneath the mentorship of fellow inmate and former light-heavyweight contender, James Scott. Following his launch in 1978, and with no beginner 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 allotting 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 dropping 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 initiatives of southeast Atlanta, Evander loved an in depth beginner 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 doable gold medals. And certainly it was Holyfield, in simply his second yr as a professional, who grew to become the primary member of that Olympic crew to problem for a world title.
A Holyfield vs Qawi match-up not solely represented a large leap in school for Evander in simply his twelfth professional bout, but additionally an unlimited danger for the younger prospect, contemplating Qawi’s ruthless strategy, power, and physicality. Holyfield, having by no means gone previous spherical eight in his quick 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 Area to assist him. Discuss a frightening process.
In some ways, Holyfield vs Qawi I might show to be paying homage to “The Thrilla In Manila”, an Ali vs Frazier sort struggle for the cruiserweight division. Like Joe Frazier, Qawi was at a major drawback when it comes to top and attain and was thus compelled to stroll by repeated crisp combos from some of the correct sharpshooters in latest boxing historical past simply to get into punching vary. However whereas Holyfield held clear benefits when it comes to youth, dimension, and pure expertise, like Muhammad Ali in Manila a decade earlier than, he was nonetheless in powerful as he struggled towards a decided and teak powerful warrior who refused to take a backwards step, no matter what “The Actual Deal” linked with.
Within the first two rounds, Evander boxed with self-discipline and stored Qawi at bay, however his innate warrior mentality bought the higher of him within the third when he met the champion head on with a barrage of vicious photographs. The match advanced into trench warfare, as Holyfield linked with the cleaner punches whereas Qawi bought 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 recurrently, 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 appeared 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 not less than twelve unanswered punches, and sending a transparent message that the challenger had a lot left within the tank. It’s wonderful to assume that in Holyfield’s first time being prolonged previous the eighth he was capable of keep 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 midst of the struggle.
Spherical 13 epitomized the explanation Ring Journal would later rank Holyfield vs Qawi because the forty sixth best title struggle 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 prime 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 arms as if to goad Evander additional into his masochistic sport. 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 struggle, spherical fifteen was the encore. Each gladiators laid all of it on the road within the ultimate three minutes and after the bell rang, Holyfield was credited with throwing a complete of 1290 punches, with almost 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 yr as knowledgeable. In any case, the underside line is that Holyfield vs Qawi is without doubt one of the finest fifteen spherical fights of latest boxing historical past.
Quickly after the judges’ resolution 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 through the Qawi struggle and that he almost stop the game because of this.
Nonetheless, it’s not in contrast to Evander Holyfield to emerge from a life-and-death ring battle as a greater boxer, as he would later show by shifting as much as grow to be heavyweight champion and in his well-known trilogy towards Riddick Bowe within the Nineteen Nineties. Qawi, however, would by no means really 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 less than a mixed three years, the 2 warriors without end put the fledgling weight class on the map with one of many best back-and-forth donnybrooks of the trendy period. Certainly, a robust case could be made that Holyfield vs Qawi I stays essentially the most grueling and action-packed struggle in all of cruiserweight historical past. — Alden Chodash
