Joe Louis vs Dwight Qawi

[uncle ben]

Qawi could have fought as a heavyweight in Louis day. If Louis defends the crown against Qawi rather than Conn in 1941, does Louis leave the ring as champion?

[TonyGe]

Qawi could have fought as a heavyweight in Louis day. If Louis defends the crown against Qawi rather than Conn in 1941, does Louis leave the ring as champion?

No he wouldn't. He'd leave the ring as a murderer.

[uncle ben]

No he wouldn't. He'd leave the ring as a murderer.

That's harsh. Qawi would have been a top rated heavyweight contender in 1941

[NChristo-]

No he wouldn't. He'd leave the ring as a murderer.

Exactly my thought, don't think you could pick a worse matchup outside of Foreman for Qawi

[billeau2]

No he wouldn't. He'd leave the ring as a murderer.

Exactly my thought, don't think you could pick a worse matchup outside of Foreman for Qawi

Come on guys... you have a cruiserweight who comes straight in, and loves to trade, trading with perhaps the premier puncher of the sport... and one of the best punchers, in any division ever... what could possibly go wrong?

[billeau2]

That's harsh. Qawi would have been a top rated heavyweight contender in 1941

No... Qawi was a great talent, much like an improved Gatti, but did you ever think to consider the darth of heavyweights at that time, who just come in and brawl? Galento was good enough to get away with it and IMO he was chronically underated. While Louis fought in a division that was not considered one of the historically stronger, guys had skills and no one was getting through brawling, unless they had heavyweight power.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Come on guys... you have a cruiserweight who comes straight in, and loves to trade, trading with perhaps the premier puncher of the sport... and one of the best punchers, in any division ever... what could possibly go wrong?

I'd take Louis but I don't think ya'll give Qawi enough credit for his defense. He didn't recklessly come straight in, he was a great counter puncher (especially with his jab) and had sneaky head movement. Look at how many shots he slipped/blocked vs Holyfield in the first fight, how he was making a fool of Leon Spinks (slipping, countering and taunting) and those are only a few. Also, I don't think weight is that much of a factor, especially when you consider all of the opponents weighing even less than Qawi (cruiserweight version) that gave Louis trouble. The average size of heavyweights was much less back then, I agree with the person that said Qawi would be a legit, top contender in those days.

[slicksouthpaw16]

I could see Qawi giving Louis a hard time, possibly even dropping him early before being taken out himself, somewhere in the late rounds.

[The Old LefHook]

No he wouldn't. He'd leave the ring as a murderer.

Funny. And true. I am no Louis cheerleader, but he would mangle ersatz Moslem Braxton.

Could Braxton even whip a leery Ray Robby?

[billeau2]

I'd take Louis but I don't think ya'll give Qawi enough credit for his defense. He didn't recklessly come straight in, he was a great counter puncher (especially with his jab) and had sneaky head movement. Look at how many shots he slipped/blocked vs Holyfield in the first fight, how he was making a fool of Leon Spinks (slipping, countering and taunting) and those are only a few. Also, I don't think weight is that much of a factor, especially when you consider all of the opponents weighing even less than Qawi (cruiserweight version) that gave Louis trouble. The average size of heavyweights was much less back then, I agree with the person that said Qawi would be a legit, top contender in those days.

Hollyfield was still developing skills as a boxer back then. Both guys really set it up to brawl. Louis could be knocked down for sure, but getting into a firefight with Louis would be a mistake.

Also I hope i didn't say "weight" if I did, I misspoke, I like to think I stated the division Qawi fought out of... Its not imo about "weight" per se, its about size in general, something people here often enough have no understanding of... There is more than just weight when it comes to fighting heavyweight.

We can argue the details to the cows come home... But the fact is Qawi was not a heavyweight. Louis was a heavyweight.

The best analogy I can think of is as follows: If you buy a Ford truck the first model is the F150 the second is the F250... Now, they look very similar! But the towing capacity is really quite different, as the 250 can tow much more. The details why involve a lot of things, not simply weight, things we cannot see, like on the suspension, the gearing ratio on the transmission, etc.

Its the same reason why some guys who do not weight a lot can fight heavyweight, others cannot. Qawi never established that he could fight a world class heavyweight and... just looking at the weight of guys in the division is not telling us that he could be able at an earlier time.