Hall of Fame boxer Dwight Muhammad Qawi, who took up the sport in prison and won world titles in two different weight classes, has died at age 72.
Qawi’s sister, Wanda King, said he died on Friday, July 25, after a five-year battle with dementia.
‘He was a great father, a great Pop-Pop to his grandchildren,’ King told BoxingScene. ‘He had a heart of gold, and he fought his dementia illness just like he was fighting in the ring.’
Born Dwight Braxton and raised in Camden, New Jersey, he learned to box at Rahway State Prison while serving a sentence for armed robbery. He turned pro after he was released in 1978 and later changed his name after converting to Islam in 1982.
Nicknamed ‘The Camden Buzzsaw,’ Qawi won his first world title in 1981, defeating Matthew Saad Muhammad for the WBC light heavyweight crown. After winning a rematch with Saad Muhammad the following year, he lost to WBA champion Michael Spinks in a unification bout in March 1983.
Despite being just 5-7, the compactly built Qawi moved up to cruiserweight in 1985 and dethroned champion Piet Crous before facing Evander Holyfield in what experts regard as one of the weight class’s best fights of all time.
Holyfield won the 15-round split decision in Atlanta on July 12, 1986, and then defeated Qawi in a rematch the following December.
Qawi would have one more high-profile fight, a March 1988 loss to heavyweight George Foreman before retiring later that year with a career record of 41-11-1 and 25 knockouts.
He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004, and spent a large part of his retirement as a youth advocate and drug and alcohol counselor in New Jersey.