Fights Boxing DVD 7
Dwight Muhammad Qawi vs Salerno
Dwight Muhammad
Qawi vs Louis
Dwight Muhammad Qawi vs Lainhart
Dwight Muhammad Qawi
vs Miller
Dwight Muhammad Qawi
Born Dwight Braxton
on January 5, 1953 in Baltimore, Maryland. He began sharpening his
boxing skills during a stint at Rahway State Prison and upon release
in March 1978, he began training at Joe Frazier’s Gym in Philadelphia
where he engaged in heated sparring sessions with tough Philadelphians
including Bennie Briscoe.
With only one month of training under
his belt and no amateur fights, the 5” 7” powerhouse turned pro in
April 1978. At age 25, he wasted little time and soon met and defeated
quality opponents. He defeated former light heavyweight king Mike
Rossman and James Scott (in a bout held in Rahway) in only his 16th
and 17th pro fights. In his next bout, December 19, 1981, the relentless
Braxton stopped Hall of Famer Matthew Saad Muhammad via 10th round
TKO to win the WBC light heavyweight belt. In the rematch held in
Philadelphia eight months later, he again stopped Saad, this time
in the 6th round. In 1982 he legally changed his name to Dwight Muhammad
Qawi following his conversion to Islam. The win over Saad and successful
title defenses over Jerry Martin and Eddie Davis led to a unification
bout with WBA champ and Hall of Famer Michael Spinks. Spinks out-pointed
him over 15 rounds, however Qawi was undeterred as he moved up in
weight to next capture the WBA cruiserweight title from Piet Crous
on July 27, 1985. After a title defense over Leon Spinks, he defended
against Evander Holyfield on July 12, 1986 with Holyfield winning
the 15 round split decision in an action packed thriller. Unsuccessful
in a rematch 17 month later, he began campaigning as a heavyweight.
Qawi would fight for the cruiserweight title once more dropping a
12 round bout to Robert Daniels in 1989.
Qawi would return for
two victories in 1997 and lose his final match in 1999 at the age
of 46. Since then he worked as a boxing trainer and has been involved
in drug and alcohol rehabilitation in New Jersey. In 2004, Dwight
Muhammad Qawi would be induced into the International Boxing Hall
of Fame. His record was 41 wins, 11 loses with 25 wins being knockouts.
After
going into an alcohol-rehabilitation program in 1990, Qawi has been
sober ever since and now his passion is helping troubled youths at
Lighthose. He said many of the kids that come to the center are 14
or 15 years old, some started messing around with drugs like Marijuana
by the time they were six.
"I don't want these kids to be dependent
on me, I want them to be independent", Qawi said. "Addiction has an
impending doom affect. When you use, you are out of control."
Qawi
said that although the kids are intrigued with the fact that he is
an ex-world champion, they are more interested in the fact that he
has been in their shoes and he can personalize his counsel to their
experiences.
"They know that everything if for real because I
am one of them," he said. "Rehabilitation is like going to train for
a fight. You've got to get yorself ready, because your are training
for the first day of the rest of your life."
