We have an incredible boxing section at Ima Sportsphile with quite a few absolutely fantastic bouts….so, it is really difficult for this lil ole chiweenie Sportsphile to ever comment on which is the best….but I have to say this about this 1st fight between Dwight Muhhamad Qawi verses Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield surely ranks with the top of the heep. This spectacular fight took place on July 12, 1986 at The Omni in Atlanta
Champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi came into this fight with a 26 – 2 – 1 (15 KOs) against Evander Holyfield with a record of 11 – 0 (8 KOs). This bout was a thrilling and close competititive fight….with the judges deciding what the fighters could not….as Holyfield appeared to outwork Qawi and land enough punches to win Qawi’s title….but the bout remained exciting until the final bell….as it is even today considered one of the last great fifteen round title bouts.
Qawi suffered a puff under the left eye from round four through out the fight….as a computer count of the punches had Holyfield throwing 1,290 punches with 629 of them registering effectively…..while Qawi’s punch count was 1,018 thrown with 562 landing effectively….when Holyfield became the 1st of the United States boxing medalists from the 1984 Olympics to capture a world title….as The Real Deal reportedly earned $100,000.
The Ring Magazine named this 1st Holyfield vs. Qawi fight the best cruiserweight fight of the 1980’s…..while ranking it as the 46th greatest title fight of all-time in 1996….and there certainly haven’t been many title fights since the golden age of boxing ended in 1995 that would affect it’s position….even in The Ring Magazine’s opinion….as the judges score cards read as follows…..Judge Harolod Lederman scored it 140 for Qawi and 144 for Holyfield….Judge Gordon Volkman had it 143 for Qawi and 141 for Holyfield….while Judge Neffie Quintana scored it 138 for Qawi with 147 for Holyfield….giving The Real Deal his 1st of his five world titles that he would go on to win….with four of them being in the heavyweight division….as Holyfield is the only heavyweight in history to win the title on four different occasions,
Any way you cut the pie….this fight is MUST SEE TV for any and all boxing fans of any age.
