DWIGHT BRAXTON w rsf 10 MATTHEW SAAD MUHAMMAD
Dec 19, 1981; Playboy Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ
MATTHEW SAAD MUHAMMAD ran out of miracles when he encountered Dwight Braxton (later to be better known as Dwight Muhammad Qawi) in Atlantic City. The WBC light-heavyweight champion had forged his considerable reputation by coming from behind and those in attendance waited and waited for Saad to come to life. But Braxton, a ferocious in-fighter, retained total control throughout. The challenger’s jab was like a battering ram to the throat as he went for the champion. Saad was wobbled several times and in the eighth, as a right landed on the button, blood flew from his face. When Matthew made one last ditch attempt to save his title in the 10th, Braxton merely rallied back, flooring the favourite. Referee Arthur Mercante, aware Saad was spent, stopped it within four punches of the follow-up assault.
DID YOU KNOW? The champion had to lose nearly seven pounds in 12 hours to make weight. Back then, the weigh-ins were on the same day as the fight.
WATCH OUT FOR: The savage brilliance of Braxton, a barrel of a man.
