Dwight Muhammad Qawi

Dwight Muhammad Qawi (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born Dwight Braxton; January 5, 1953 – July 25, 2025) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1978 to 1998. He was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC and Ring magazine light heavyweight titles from 1981 to 1983, and the WBA cruiserweight title from 1985 to 1986.<ref name="cbs">Template:Cite web</ref> Qawi was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="cbs"/>

Early life

Qawi, born Dwight Braxton, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but grew up in Camden, New Jersey, where he got involved with crime at a young age.<ref name="cbs"/> He was eventually convicted of armed robbery and spent around five years in prison.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

It was in Rahway State Prison that Braxton found his place in life. The prison had an extensive boxing program and one of its inmates, James Scott, was a light heavyweight title contender who fought several times inside the prison itself.<ref name="cbs"/> Braxton took up the sport, and when he was released from prison in 1978, immediately became a professional boxer.<ref name="cbs"/> Qawi's style was most often likened to Joe Frazier,<ref name="ring">Template:Cite web</ref> an infighting style with heavy use of feints and head movement,<ref name="cbs"/> with relentless pressure and a crab shell defense.,<ref name="site">Template:Cite web</ref> and with good reason as he had trained in Frazier's Philadelphia gym as a professional.<ref name="cbs"/><ref name="ring"/> He converted to Islam in the early 1980s and had his name changed from Dwight Braxton to Dwight Muhammad Qawi.<ref name="cbs"/>

Professional career

Template:Main He went 1–1–1 in his first three pro fights, but then reeled off 14 straight victories to move into the world rankings at light heavyweight.<ref name="cbs"/> The last of those wins came on September 5, 1981, when Braxton returned to Rahway to fight Scott, with the winner promised a shot at Matthew Saad Muhammad's WBC world championship belt. Braxton won a unanimous 10-round decision.

On December 19 of the same year, Braxton faced Saad Muhammad in Atlantic City. Braxton was the underdog against Saad, one of the most popular fighters of his generation and a fellow future Hall of Famer, but Braxton defeated him on a 10th-round technical knockout and became a world champion for the first time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was shortly after this that he announced his conversion to Islam and changed his name.

He defended the title three times in the next 15 months, knocking out Jerry Martin, Saad Muhammad a second time and Eddie Davis. On March 18, 1983, he lost a close but unanimous decision to WBA champion Michael Spinks in a unification bout.

Qawi felt that making the division's 175-pound weight limit had drained him physically, and resolved to seek another world title in the newly created cruiserweight division. Freed of the need to fight to keep his weight down, Qawi reeled off another series of wins and claimed the WBA cruiserweight title on July 7, 1985, knocking out Piet Crous in Crous' native South Africa.

He won two more fights, including a victory over former world heavyweight titlist Leon Spinks, before accepting a challenge from Olympian Evander Holyfield on July 12, 1986. The fight, in Holyfield's hometown of Atlanta, went the full 15 rounds, with Holyfield winning a split decision.

After the loss to Holyfield, Qawi fought off and on for the next 12 years, but never regained a world title. He rematched with Holyfield in 1987 for the WBA and IBF cruiserweight titles, but was stopped in the fourth round.

After a short stint in the heavyweight ranks, where in 1988 he lost to George Foreman by knockout in seven rounds, being forced to quit from exhaustion, he tried to regain the cruiserweight title. On November 27, 1989, he dropped a split decision to Robert Daniels for Holyfield's vacated WBA title.

Qawi retired in 1999 at the age of 46, with a career record of 41 wins, 11 losses and one draw, with 25 wins by way of knockout. He worked as a boxing trainer in New Jersey.

Later life and death

In 1998, Dwight began working at the Lighthouse, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Mays Landing, New Jersey. He worked with both adults and adolescents and was a patient advocate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On July 25, 2025, Qawi died at the age of 72 at a nursing home in Baltimore, Maryland.<ref>Dwight Muhammad Qawi dies at 72</ref> He had dementia for the last five years of his life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
53	Template:No2Loss	Template:Nowrap	Tony LaRosa	UD	8	Nov 25, 1998	Template:Small
52	Template:Yes2Win	41–10–1	Tyrone Demby	TKO	2	Jun 27, 1997	Template:Small
51	Template:Yes2Win	40–10–1	Earl Clark	UD	6	May 8, 1997	Template:Small
50	Template:No2Loss	39–10–1	Nate Miller	UD	10	Oct 13, 1992	Template:Small
49	Template:Yes2Win	39–9–1	Dave Fiddler	TKO	2 (8), Template:Small	Jul 18, 1992	Template:Small
48	Template:No2Loss	38–9–1	Arthur Williams	UD	10	May 8, 1992	Template:Small
47	Template:Yes2Win	38–8–1	Ric Lainhart	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	Apr 7, 1992	Template:Small
46	Template:Yes2Win	37–8–1	Ricky Parkey	RTD	8 (10), Template:Small	Nov 7, 1991	Template:Small	Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	36–8–1	Eddie Taylor	Template:Abbr	4 (10), Template:Small	Jul 23, 1991	Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	35–8–1	James Salerno	UD	10	Jun 11, 1991	Template:Small
43	Template:Yes2Win	34–8–1	Tommy Richardson	KO	1	Apr 20, 1991	Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	33–8–1	Bert Gravley	TKO	3	March 2, 1991	Template:Small
41	Template:No2Loss	32–8–1	Mike Hunter	UD	12	Mar 16, 1990	Template:Small	Template:Small
40	Template:No2Loss	32–7–1	Robert Daniels	SD	12	Nov 27, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	32–6–1	Everett Martin	UD	10	May 22, 1989	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	31–6–1	Andre McCall	UD	12	Apr 18, 1989	Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	30–6–1	Tyrone Booze	MD	10	Feb 15, 1989	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	29–6–1	Olian Alexander	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	Nov 23, 1988	Template:Small
35	Template:No2Loss	28–6–1	George Foreman	TKO	7 (10), Template:Small	Mar 19, 1988	Template:Small
34	Template:No2Loss	28–5–1	Evander Holyfield	KO	4 (15), Template:Small	Dec 5, 1987	Template:Small	Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	28–4–1	Lee Roy Murphy	TKO	6 (10), Template:Small	Aug 15, 1987	Template:Small
32	Template:No2Loss	27–4–1	Ossie Ocasio	MD	10	May 15, 1987	Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	27–3–1	Narcisco Maldonado	TKO	4 (10), Template:Small	Feb 6, 1987	Template:Small
30	Template:No2Loss	26–3–1	Evander Holyfield	SD	15	Jul 12, 1986	Template:Small	Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	26–2–1	Leon Spinks	TKO	6 (15), Template:Small	Mar 22, 1986	Template:Small	Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	25–2–1	Rick Enis	KO	1 (10), Template:Small	Jan 8, 1986	Template:Small
27	Template:Yes2Win	24–2–1	Piet Crous	KO	11 (15), Template:Small	Jul 27, 1985	Template:Small	Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	23–2–1	Michael Greer	UD	10	Feb 27, 1985	Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	22–2–1	Stanley Ross	UD	10	Dec 12, 1984	Template:Small
24	Template:Yes2Win	21–2–1	Pat Cuillo	UD	10	Mar 21, 1984	Template:Small
23	Template:Yes2Win	20–2–1	Johnny Davis	SD	10	Sep 17, 1983	Template:Small
22	Template:No2Loss	19–2–1	Michael Spinks	UD	15	Mar 18, 1983	Template:Small	Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	19–1–1	Eddie Davis	TKO	11 (15), Template:Small	Nov 20, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	18–1–1	Matthew Saad Muhammad	TKO	6 (15), Template:Small	Aug 7, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	17–1–1	Jerry Martin	TKO	6 (15), Template:Small	Mar 21, 1982	Template:Small	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	16–1–1	Matthew Saad Muhammad	TKO	10 (15), Template:Small	Dec 19, 1981	Template:Small	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	15–1–1	James Scott	UD	10	Sep 5, 1981	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	14–1–1	Mike Rossman	KO	7 (10), Template:Small	May 31, 1981	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	13–1–1	Al Bolden	UD	10	Mar 5, 1981	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	12–1–1	Johnny Davis	Template:Abbr	10	Jan 8, 1981	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	11–1–1	Tony Mesoraca	TKO	6 (10)	Nov 6, 1980	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	10–1–1	Rick Jester	TKO	3 (10)	Aug 14, 1980	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	9–1–1	Charles Smith	TKO	4 (10)	Jun 5, 1980	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	8–1–1	Leonard Langley	TKO	2 (8), Template:Small	May 8, 1980	Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	7–1–1	Cornell Chavis	TKO	1, Template:Small	Mar 29, 1980	Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	6–1–1	Theunis Kok	Template:Abbr	10 (10)	Feb 4, 1980	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	5–1–1	Johnny Wilburn	UD	8	Nov 14, 1979	Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	4–1–1	Donald Biff Cline	Template:Abbr	1, Template:Small	Sep 26, 1979	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	3–1–1	Louis Butler	PTS	8	Jul 3, 1979	Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	2–1–1	Louis Butler	Template:Abbr	6	May 25, 1979	Template:Small
3	Template:No2Loss	1–1–1	Johnny Davis	Template:Abbr	6	Nov 2, 1978	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	1–0–1	Lou Benson Jr.	Template:Abbr	6	Jun 3, 1978	Template:Small
1	Template:DrawDraw	0–0–1	Leonard Langley	Template:Abbr	6	Apr 19, 1978	Template:Small

See also

• List of world light-heavyweight boxing champions
• List of world cruiserweight boxing champions

External links

• Template:Boxrec

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