Comments Thread For: Daily Bread Mailbag: Why Evander Holyfield beats Oleksandr Usyk; memories of Dwight Muhammad Qawi

[BlackRobb]

Anyone who truly believes Holyfield beats Usyk at heavyweight or cruiserweight needs his head examined. Dwight Qawi was a pretty good fighter, but in no way, shape or form does he belong in the HOF.

Let's keep in mind that some folks had Crawford-Spence as a 50/50 fight going in.

[ShoulderRoll]

Anyone who truly believes Holyfield beats Usyk at heavyweight or cruiserweight needs his head examined. Dwight Qawi was a pretty good fighter, but in no way, shape or form does he belong in the HOF.

Let's keep in mind that some folks had Crawford-Spence as a 50/50 fight going in.

Qawi was better than anyone Usyk has ever fought.

[BlackRobb]

Qawi was better than anyone Usyk has ever fought.

Are you telling me Qawi was better than Breidis, Huck, Bellew and Glowacki? Qawi's best wins came at 175 over a faded Saad Muhammad and inmate James Scott. And don't even get me started on heavyweight. Leave the drugs alone, young man.

[richardt]

Question is with or without Evan Fields steroids as to when the fight would take place? Usyk would control the distance better, especially if Evan Fields had not been using steroids. Anytime you see a man's neck disappear to where it practically winds up on the back of a milk carton....yeah steroids.

[ShoulderRoll]

Are you telling me Qawi was better than Breidis, Huck, Bellew and Glowacki? Qawi's best wins came at 175 over a faded Saad Muhammad and inmate James Scott. And don't even get me started on heavyweight. Leave the drugs alone, young man.

Yes, Qawi was better than all of those. Easily. Huck and Bellew? Lol.

Just watch Holyfield vs Qawi 1. Even Foreman vs Qawi.

[kafkod]

Qawi was better than anyone Usyk has ever fought.

That's crazy talk!

Qawi was a 5 foot 6 inch blown up LHW. He wouldn't be in the top 15 at CW or HW if he was fighting today.

[BlackRobb]

Yes, Qawi was better than all of those. Easily. Huck and Bellew? Lol.

Just watch Holyfield vs Qawi 1. Even Foreman vs Qawi.

Qawi beat no one at cruiserweight. He gave Holy a decent fight in Atlanta, but got crushed like a 5'6" soda can in the rematch. Foreman steamrolled Qawi. Like I said, his best wins were at 175. Usyk beat several guys at cruiserweight better than Qawi.

[HI-TECH Boxing]

I don't have a problem with anyone favoring Holyfield over Usyk. It's a hypothetical match-up after all. However, one thing I notice is when people discuss hypothetical matches they only look at the "weaknesses" of the fighter they're going against. Only look at one side and not the other. We have to analyze both sides.

I do disagree with Qawi being a better Cruiserweight than anyone Usyk fought.
Holyfield was basically fighting in the early days of the Cruiserweight division. That's why guys like Tyrone Booze, Rickey Parkey, and Ossie Ocasio were able to win world titles. Cruiserweight really didn't start getting good until the mid 2000s and probably peaked when Usyk was there in the mid to late 2010s.
So we have Holyfield competing in the early days of the Cruiserweight division and Usyk competing at Cruiserweight during the peak of the division.
I understand people love Qawi, because of his style and mentality. To be 5'6" and doing what he did, not only, at Light-Heavyweight but also at Cruiserweight is incredible. But even Qawi didn't have it all his way at Cruiserweight. He went 2-3 in World Title fights there and his best win at Cruiserweight was Piet Crous or Leon Spinks. Not exactly murder's row.
I think it's one of those things where people look at how tough and relentless he was and how good he was at Light-Heavyweight and they attribute those 175 accomplishments to Cruiserweight. He was still tough and relentless at Cruiserweight but his best weight was obviously 175.

P.S. while the Breidis fight was tough for Usyk, I don't think anyone denies that, to say it was controversial is an overstatement. Majority of people had Usyk winning on the night and post that fight. At worst, I remember seeing a few draws. But Usyk did outwork him most of the fight and especially the last 3 rounds. Breidis would try to rally late to try and steal some of those rounds; especially the last 3 like I said.

[lilacp]

There are two separate questions that some.folks are collapsing, whose record at cruiserweight was better and who would win.

I think Usyk's achievements at CW are slightly better than Holyfield, who was campaigning at what wasn't the best CW era, as has been mentioned. The Qawi wins were impressive, and that Qawi who fought Evander in the first bout would have also troubled Usyk, tho the Ukrainean would have prevailed because of his defensive prowess, something Holyfield didn't have.

But head to head, that's a separate topic, Holyfield was a train at CW, and the point that Bread man makes about Evander's roughhousing is a good one. But would he be able to be consistently enough in Usyk's face for that to reap it's benefits? I don't think so, precisely because Holyfield struggled with leftists. I see a tough fight with Usyk winning clearly on points.

[ShoulderRoll]

Qawi beat no one at cruiserweight. He gave Holy a decent fight in Atlanta, but got crushed like a 5'6" soda can in the rematch. Foreman steamrolled Qawi. Like I said, his best wins were at 175. Usyk beat several guys at cruiserweight better than Qawi.

Just look at the combinations Qawi throws. You don’t see that at cruiserweight today.

Freaking Zurdo Ramirez is currently a champion in that weight class. That doesn’t impress me as some great new and improved era.