The Camden Buzzsaw: Dwight Muhammad Qawi
Credit: Tony Triolo
“That’s the whole thing about boxing, make them miss and make them pay. I don’t dance around like Ali, you know, and I don’t try a lot of dumb trick stuff like a lot of other fighters do. My style has an aim and has a purpose. The name they call me is the Buzzsaw, cause I be getting in there and be doing what I got to do and staying right there. But I don’t be laying on the guy, don’t be slung on him, don’t be wrestling him, its a technique it’s not [that] you know, I go to work, I go to work.” - Dwight Muhammad Qawi
This article is part of our “long article” requests through Patreon! A huge thank you to Alteroc (@crwate01) for this excellent topic suggestion.
In an effort to learn more about combat sports, Alteroc laid out an article format that covers three athletes from a specific sport:
An all-time great
A specialist
Someone “weird”
This article covers #2 for boxing: Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Champion of the World, Dwight Muhammad Qawi
Born Dwight Braxton, Dwight Muhammad Qawi had possibly the most unconventional journey to boxing immortality. Qawi’s road started not within the amateur system like many other boxing standouts, but at Rahway State Prison. After being sentenced to 5 years incarceration for armed robbery, Qawi found his calling at the Rahway State Prison boxing program, a system that produced notable light heavyweight, James Scott Jr. Once released from prison, Qawi immediately pursued a boxing career that would result in classic bouts, championships in multiple divisions, and a spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
In addition to his inauspicious introduction into boxing, Qawi’s physical dimensions should have precluded him from reaching such hallowed status. Listed generously at 5’7, Qawi’s opponents often towered over him, with his greatest rival—Evander Holyfield—standing over 8 inches taller than him. As Qawi was thickly built to say the least, he did not have the option to go down in weight, which forced him to figure out a way to contend with behemoths such as George Foreman.
The size discrepancy between him and his opponents left Qawi with very few options for where he could deal real damage to his opponents. Qawi had no hope of being competitive in bouts at range and thus built his tactics so that he would be able to dominate in the pocket and especially, in the infight.
While Qawi’s frame was unconventional for the division, once he was able to initiate the infight, it gave him a vast advantage over his rivals. To penetrate the space between him and his opponents Qawi employed two primary tactics, a jab and a shifting over hand right. In regards to his jab, Qawi used a spearing jab, thrown singularly. Qawi mixed up the target placement of these shots, as due to his stature, he did not have to change levels to be able to attack the body.
As he was always moving forward, Qawi was able to mix up the timing on his jab. In this exchange, Qawi is initially stepping in on the 1 beat to pressure Saad Muhammad into the ropes, he steps in again on the 1 beat and on the following half beat hops forward to deliver the spearing jab to an unsuspecting target.
The jab of Qawi often drove his opponents further back, trapping them against the ropes in the worst possible position against a dominant infighter. Qawi however did not merely rely on this jab as he paired it with the effective shifting overhand right. This punch served the same purpose for Qawi as the shifting 1-2 did for Roberto Duran as it let both of them collapse the range of their opponent, even if the combination did not land cleanly.
Here, Qawi throws his shifting overhand right to collapse the space between him and Saad Muhammad. To re-establish a safe distance, Saad Muhammad attempts to use his lead hand as a frame on Qawi’s head. Qawi however swings for an underhook on that same side, dislodging the frame and enticing Saad Muhammad to turn the frame into a hook, which Qawi is able to predict and weave under, and enter the infight.
The primary reason why this shifting overhand right was such a successful tactic for Qawi was his defensive tendencies. Employing a shell guard, Qawi took on a more bladed stance than the standard boxer. This allowed Qawi to pull back much deeper and more efficiently than his opponent could foresee. As he pulled, Qawi would also slip to the right side of the centerline off of his opponents’ jab. When this occurred, Qawi’s shoulder would now be on the centerline, ready to block the cross of his opponent.
Against Evander Holyfield, when Qawi is presented with the the 1-1-2, he slips to the left of the jabs while crouching further. When Holyfield starts to throw his cross, Qawi’s left shoulder on the centerline, forcing Holyfield to throw his cross at a steep downward angle over Qawi’s upper body. Due to the acute angle of the strike, Qawi only has to lower his base further, avoiding the blow.
This defensive system fed right into Qawi’s shifting overhand right as once he conditioned his opponents to believe that he would just attempt slip the lead hand, Qawi would cross counter them.
Saad Muhammad throws two lazy jabs meant to keep space between Qawi and himself. Sensing no impending threat of a cross to catch him coming in, Qawi unleashes his shifting overhand right on Saad Muhammad, who is too surprised to bring his lead hand back once Qawi steps in to throw the strike.
Once Qawi was able to enter into the pocket and the infight, it was his world. While his opponent’s long arms could keep his bay at range theoretically, in the closer ranged they were a hindrance as Qawi’s hand speed made it almost impossible to parry or slip any of his strikes.
When Qawi was in the infight, he primarily stayed on his opponents left side, and used the shell guard to great effect. The shell allowed him to enact great offense off of outstanding defense as Qawi often let his opponent’s throw first, before punishing them with counters.
After using his shoulder to block Davis’ hook while using the shell, Qawi uses his head and rear arm to sense the shoulder placement of his opponent. Since Davis is using his elbow to frame off of him, Qawi knows that the body of Davis is susceptible, which he exploits with two hooks to body. In response, Davis retracts his elbows to shield his ribs, leaving his head on the centerline. Qawi punishes this with an uppercut-hook combination before Davis backs out of the exchange.
Qawi flourished in the pocket and the infight particularly due to his defensive prowess. Using both masterful head movement, a keen awareness of potential dangers, and an impenetrable shell, even his most offensively gifted opponents had trouble with “The Camden Buzzsaw”.
Starting in his normal shell, Davis uses his lead forearm to manipulate the guard of Qawi, forcing Qawi to square his upper body before Davis unloads a rear uppercut and hook on Qawi, which are deflected. Qawi then takes a slight step back while blading his stance and enters his normal shell, with his lead hand draped across his torso and his rear hand protecting his jaw on the lead side. Davis then throws the pawing jab, meant to gauge the distance between the two fighters, while blinding Qawi from seeing the proceeding cross. Qawi however uses his lead side to feel the weight of Davis’ lead arm so when Davis retracts it a moment before throwing the cross, Qawi is able to slip to the outside of cross. This sequence changes the angle of both fighters, forcing Davis to re-center his base in a now shifted stance, making the rear uppercut the only option in such a tight area. Qawi anticipates this and changes his guard to deal with the potential threat before returning to his original shell.
The build of Dwight Muhammad Qawi amplifies the effect of his shell. Against uppercuts he is able to bring up his lead hand into a variation of the double forearm guard to deflect, while against jabs, crosses, and hooks, he is able to parry and absorb the contact with his gloves. After Davis is not able to properly land a single punch in this flurry, Qawi fires back with a few body shots, draining Davis’ gas tank.
In his heyday, no one was more impressive in regards to their ability to anticipate than Qawi, who regularly made some all-time greats look amateurish in comparison.
In arguably the greatest Cruiserweight fight of all-time, Qawi’s pressure and shell leaves Holyfield with few options when attacking him. Using Holyfield’s height against him, Qawi crouches so that his shoulder is essentially at the waist of Holyfield and bows his head forward, taking away Holyfield’s ability to attack with uppercuts. Qawi so close to Holyfield that jabs would be functionally ineffective, leaving crosses and hooks as the only options of attack. Qawi weaves from side to side, with his body shielding his head from attacks from the opposite side arm, allowing Qawi to focus solely on avoiding each strike of Holyfield by bobbing.
Qawi’s anticipatory skills were not limited to the infight as it was essential to the use of his iconic shifting overhand right.
When a fighter is coming in against a much longer opponent, he is vulnerable to an intercepting hook. Qawi solved this issue by employing the shifting overhand right, as the strike changes his stance so that his head is no longer on the same side of the hook, allowing him to avoid the strike easily. The issue then facing Qawi is that because he is shifting and is much shorter than his opponent, he is left open to the uppercut. Qawi implemented a slip to the outside immediately following his combination to avoid the only option left to his opponent.
Dwight Muhammad Qawi had every reason to fail, not only in boxing but in life. Despite serving five years in prison, despite not having any amateur fights, despite being vastly smaller than the rest of his contemporaries, Qawi became an icon in his own right. While he was often described as a bruising force who relied on brawling with his opponents, that vastly undersells how truly special Qawi was as a fighter. Qawi built a game that was the polar opposite of the rest of his division, and used his boxing intelligence to force his opponents to choose doomed options as he hacked away at their body, winning two divisional crowns in the process. Qawi was a truly special fighter as he took lessons from icons of the past such as “Smokin” Joe Frazier, tweaked them to benefit himself, and cemented himself as one of a kind.