Matthew Saad Muhammads Comeback

Im sure most of you are familiar with the former light heavyweight champion Matthew Saad Muhammad. As people who followed boxing as far back as the late 1970s will probably attest to, there cant be too many more better value for money fighters. He was part of an explosive light heavyweight scene with guys like Marvin Johnson, Yaqui Lopez, Dwight Muhammad Qawi and our own John Conteh. For anyone not familiar with him his fights are well worth a visit if you have the time. Its an era that produced some enthralling and often brutal contests in the division and nobody was involved in more than MSM.

However outside the boxing ring his story is an all two familiar rags to riches and back to rags that is so often the case in boxing. He was orphaned at an early age along with his older brother when his mother died and was sent to live with his aunt. Shockingly, at the age of 5y his aunt decided she could no longer afford to support both he and his older brother and instructed his brother to take Matthew out for a walk and simply abandon him. MSM was found sleeping in a park in Philadelphia and ended up spending his youth between various orphanages and reform schools.

Unsurprising he led a troubled youth and as is often the case, his life was given a new sense of purpose when he was encouraged to take up boxing to stay off the streets. He joined the Jupiter Gym in South Philadelphia to learn the sweet science. In his fifth year as a pro he captured the light heavyweight world title beating Marvin Johnson in the second of their classic encounters. Originally known as Mathew Franklin, he would convert to Islam after winning the world title and go by the name Matthew Saad Muhammad in a move inspired by Muhammad Ali who he had witnessed training in Philadelphia years before. He would defend his title 8 times in the next 3 years against men like Lopez and Conteh before being defeated by the upcoming Dwight Muhammad Qawi. He would also lose a rematch to Qawi which effectively spelled the end of his career at the top although he continued to box on well past his best with little success. Ironically he would also try and trace his family origins and offered $10,000 to anyone who could help him. He was contacted by two people which turned out to be the aunt and brother who that abandoned him looking for the $10,000 reward! (which he paid them).

The word warrior ris clichéd and probably gets overused in boxing but in the case of MSM its a worthy description as anyone who watched his often brutal contests is sure to remember. His nickname miracle Matthew derived from his ability to absorb huge amounts of punishment only to rescue a fight down the stretch in the most unlikely of fashions. As a fan of his fights I was saddened when two years ago I read that MSM had been living rough in Philadelphia and had eventually had to check himself into a homeless shelter there. The familiar story of being milked dry by various hangers on, entourages, money men and fraudsters until the money ran out.

Despite many of the people in the homeless shelter recognising the former champion, he was originally so ashamed of ending up homeless that he implored the workers and other homeless people there not to tell any media outlets. There he sold a monthly magazine called One Step Away which is a magazine produced by homeless people and sold in order to raise funds. However after working with the people who ran the hostel for some time he was encouraged to come clean about his situation to various media sources in an effort to rebuild his life and tell the eventful story of his life.

I was pleased to read that as of nine months ago MSM is no longer homeless and is on the road to recovery. He gave various interviews to papers and magazines in Philadelphia explaining his story and he now works various fundraisers to raise money and awareness for the homeless. He has moved into an affordable housing project and while he has very little money he is at least off the streets, rebuilding his life and has also been reunited with his family. An very interesting life to go with his amazing career in the ring that wouldnt be too out of place in a Hollywood film script. Incidentally, Matthew Saad Muhammad was the original choice to play Clubber Lang in Rocky III but turned it down - something he regrets to this day!

Nice piece manos. personally, I've always felt that matt was over-rated as a fighter... In my view, some get a little carried away with the great fights he was in, when assessing him, but regardless, he was a worthy champion.

His story has an all too familiar ring to it, but it's good that things look on the up for him. Here's hoping it has a happy ending.

Im not really too sure whether I would consider him overrated in general. Funnily enough I felt he was remembered more as an entertaining fighter more than a good one despite having a pretty good set of wins over Johnson, Conteh and Lopez. I certainly dont think hes in that elite bracket of light heavies with guys like Charles, Spinks and Foster but I would probably have him around the 15 mark as light heavies go.

Logged on not expecting to find much so early on a Monday morning, so imagine my surprise when I found this gem of an article. Great work, Manos.

Saad was simply incredible, whichever way you look at it. As you've outlined, his life story has largely been a heartbreaking one. Had he never even set foot in a boxing ring, he'd likely still have more tales to tell than any of us, even if there weren't many happy ones amongst them.

But throw in his very, very considerable ring exploits, and you've got a life which is nothing short of remarkable.

While there are certainly a dozen or so Light-Heavyweights who'd command a higher place in the history of the division, I doubt there has been a more electrifying and engaging 175 lb champion than Saad. Very apt that he was considered for a role in the Rocky series, I'd say, as his first fight with Marvin Johnson really was the stuff of Hollywood. Outboxed for the most part, certainly well behind on points going in to that twelfth and final round, but somehow, from somewhere, he pulled out that huge finish - and it turned out to be the win which really set him on his way in terms of the world title picture. Like Chavez-Taylor I, it was one of those odd fights in which one man was winning, and yet they'd taken so much more punishment and, in the end, simply couldn't deny the indomitable spirit of the other man. An incredible fight, which everyone simply must see if they already haven't.

The second fight with Lopez is, of course, the stuff of legend. In his own, strange way, Saad seemed to carry an aura of invincibility between 1977 and 1982. Not because he was so clearly superior to his foes, but because he just seemed destined to win, no matter what. It was amazing how often he could spend a whole round backed up against the ropes, doing nothing other than catching punches on his gloves or having his head rocked backwards by uppercuts (sometimes I almost get the impression he deliberately exaggerated this head rocking for the crowd's amusement and benefit!) and then, out of nowhere, be able to launch a devastating attack of his own.

The wars with Johnson and Lopez, the tense affair first time out with Conteh, the absolutely chilling and brutal knockout of Mwale and the somewhat strange surrender of his title to Qawi; whatever you got with Saad, it was never dull. An absolutely sensational fighter in many ways, and one who, if I had the time and tools, I'd absolutely love to write a biography on, though I'm not sure any book could do justice to such an eventful life and career. Glad to hear he's in a better place now than he was a few years back, as it's the least he deserves after giving the fans so many wonderful moments.

Thanks, Manos.

i meant over-rated on some forums and by a fair few on here, manos, i've seen some place him very high on their atg light heavies list.

its that old argument with come from behind wins... like leonard hearns, do you give credit for the spirit to turn the fight around, or dock them for being outboxed in the first place. Depends on what argument you're trying to put across.

His come from behind victories, showed the guy had great heart, but also showed his limitations, you could argue he rode his luck in some of those big wins... he certainly got conteh at his big time charlie peak. And then you have his performances in the braxton/qawi fights. don;t get me wrong qawi was a scary guy, but although he took his beatings like a warrior, saad looked petrified whilst he did it.

He did have a very good run in the middle of his career and beat some good but not great opponents. Great entertainment value certainly.

I think Saad would be somewhere around the fourteen / fifteen mark in my all-time Light-Heavyweight estimations, which is just about the highest you could realistically place any world titlist who didn't completely remove all doubts about who was the top dog in the division in that era.

That said, Saad campaigned in arguably the greatest Light-Heavyweight generation of them all, and you'd surely have to conclude that of that crop (Galindez, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Johnson, Conteh, Qawi etc all included) which existed between the reigns of Foster and Spinks, Saad proved himself the best, just about. To me, that makes him eligable for a fairly good ranking.

It may seem odd, to some, to have him ahead of Michalczewski, Dillon, Delaney etc, but I just can't bring myself to ignore the sheer depth of the division which Saad had to navigate through to establish his credentials. I'd imagine even those mid seventies to early eighties 'gatekeepers' such as Lopez, Parlov and Kates would be too much for most 175 lb belt holders in recent years.

no arguments there Chris, top 15 is fine with me. You can't really say he proved himself better than qawi though can you?

Now there is a fighter criminally under-rated by many in my view. What a good clubber lang he'd have made... and stallone could have fought someone his size.

milkyboy wrote:no arguments there Chris, top 15 is fine with me. You can't really say he proved himself better than qawi though can you?

Now there is a fighter criminally under-rated by many in my view. What a good clubber lang he'd have made... and stallone could have fought someone his size.

Better Light-Heavyweight career than Qawi would perhaps have been a fairer and more accurate evaluation, Milky, you're right. Mind you, Qawi can perhaps count himself unlucky that he was on a collision course with a truly elite 175 lb great in Spinks. I'd say that there's enough body to Saad's work to keep him a couple of spots or so ahead of Qawi, but as you allude to, if Saad does hover somewhere around the fifteen mark then Qawi would have to make the top twenty too, I suppose.

I think you're probably right in saying that Qawi remains slightly underrated right to this day. As if being such a major player in that golden Light-Heavyweight era weren't enough, his feat of collecting a Cruiserweight title and giving Holyfield absolute hell first time out, despite standing just 5' 5" and probably being a little shopworn himself by that stage, is a very commendable one. Let's not forget that he had absolutely no amateur experience, either.

I know I keep saying it....But what a great era for the Light-Heavyweights!

true chris, hard guy to rank qawi. He took up boxing in prison and made his debut in his mid 20's, was good enough to finish saad as a fighter, give a prime mike spinks a tough test at light heavy, and push holy to the limit at cruiser. But pretty unlucky to run into spinks and holy!

Think he's over rated in the sense that I don't think he'd have beaten Conteh a year or so earlier and did seem to catch fighters at the right time, the era itself I think is massively over rated, it was competitive and exciting but with the exception of Conteh don't think any of them had an abundance of talent.

Can't help but feel that you've put forward an incredibly harsh judgement on Saad there, Ghosty, but more worryingly on the Light-Heavyweight era in question. Of course, there were extenuating circumstances which prevented Conteh reaching the levels his talent was worthy of, but surely it doesn't say much for him that, if he were the only one with real qualities, he couldn't distinguish himself from the crowd you've labelled as "massively overrated"?

Fair enough - Saad, Qawi and Lopez were no slicksters. But someone such as Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, for example, was a far more complete specimen than he is given credit for; the way in which he outboxed Galindez at range, using exceptional timing and patience (only to be the victim of a very poor decision) is a fine example of that. And yes, as Galindez's chief cheerleader on here, it's very difficult for me to write that!

Aside from the Black Murderers Row one, I fail to see an era which can rival that mid seventies to mid eighties period for the Light-Heavyweight division, in terms of having an abundance of genuinely world class fighters, a host of competitive and exciting bouts and, at the end of it all, a champion who easily fits the billing of 'elite' (in this case it would be Spinks, who is more than eligable to be considered part of the era having fought Lopez, Johnson, Qawi and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad).

Fights of the quality of Saad-Johnson I, Galindez-Kates I, Saad-Lopez II etc are not fights befitting an average era, but rather a brilliant one as far as I'm concerned.

I think Qawi is a hugely underrated fighter. I think he was somewhat fortunate to catch Saad when Saad was maybe on the way out and had been in so many wars. I think Qawi would probably have beaten Saad anyway but he definately got him at a good time. But he was then unfortunate to run into easily one of the best light heavyweight of all time in Spinks (and then also the best cruiserweight of all time not long after).

But as a fighter he had a fantastic array of punches. Lethal on the inside but for a short guy he had a surprisingly good jab and could box on the outside if he had. Very good and rolling and slipping punches with his bob and weave style and very good at getting on the inside and doing damage. Fantasic work rate and engine.

His short light heavyweight reign means that he usually doesnt feature highly in lists but I thought he was a fantastic fighter during his best years and was one of the guys who couldnt have run into a tougher pair of foes. His style was similar enough to Frazier but also ironically I think he suffered from a similar phenomenon of being around when his divisions contained guys that were basically the amongst the best of all time in that division.

It's possibly the third strongest era behind those of Charles and Tunney but with the exception of Spinks don't think anyone was an elite light heavyweight that includes Qawi, Conteh, Gallindez and Saad Muhammad but what it did have was a lot of very good fighters.

Conteh ability wise I think was a step above the rest but for faults all of his own doing didn't build upon his talent.

Good analysis of Qawi there, Manos. Like I said earlier, not a pretty fighter by any means, but damned effective.

He was a nasty little bleeder, too; not the shy and retiring type when it came to the dark arts. That first fight with Holyfield was astonishing, one of the very last fifteen round classics. Fantastic losing effort by Qawi, but the only parts of Holyfield he didn't hit in that fight were the soles of his feet.

Can you imagine Conteh versus Qawi? Surely would have been one of the most foul-filled 175 lb title fights of all time! But I should stop before it starts to look as if I'm doing Qawi a disservice - he was an excellent fighter in his own right, certainly worth those two world titles he won.