Qawi is one of boxing's greatest reclamation stories. He becomes a fighter in his mid-20's after a stint in prison. The fight that brought him to public prominence was a fight where he returned to where he'd been incarcerated Rahway State Prison and he defeated the fearsome James Scott. But that may not have been Qawi's most cinematic win. As a cruiserweight he traveled to apartheid South Africa and took the cruiserweight crown from Afrikaner Piet Crous in front of an all-white crowd.
Watching Qawi is watching a textbook on how very short fighters can win. Qawi was a 5'5 light heavyweight fer crissakes. His stance was perfect. Weight on his back foot, chin tucked behind his left shoulder. He'd shuffle in doing three things, jabbing to the head, jabbing to the body (the RIGHT way) and rolling his upper body back and forth and back and forth. If he didn't get under and inside right away he'd throw a windmill right hand that if it landed caused big problems. But it was when he got inside that the game was up. A master of short punching with both hands. Hooks, uppercuts and then he'd step to the right and do a Henry Armstrong and land an over the top right. Qawi NEVER just stayed in one spot once he got inside. He'd travel back and forth from outside the left shoulder all the way to the right shoulder. Beautiful.
As good as Qawi was in the first fight with Evander, it's the wrong fight to watch. Here are a couple of rounds at 175 as Qawi systematically begins to take apart HOFer and reigning champion Matthew Saad Muhammad
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