Dwight Muhammad Qawi Dwight Muhammad Qawi (born Dwight Braxton; January 5, 1953) is an American former 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 tit ...

vs. Evander Holyfield, billed as "Pandemonium" was a professional boxing match contested on July 12, 1986 for the WBA Junior Heavyweight championship.

Background

After his defeat by

Michael Spinks Michael Spinks (born July 13, 1956) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal ...

in March 1983 in a bout for the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Championship, Dwight Muhammad Qawi had been set for a rematch with Spinks in September 1984, however after Qawi was injured three weeks before the fight and had to pull out. He then decided to move up to the new Cruiserweight division and in July 1985 he knocked out

Piet Crous Petrus Arnoldus Crous (born July 2, 1955) is a South African former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1987. Professional career Crous turned pro in 1977. He won the WBA cruiserweight title with a unanimous decision win over Ossie Oca ...

to win the WBA cruiserweight title. After making one successful defence against former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion

Leon Spinks Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

(brother of Michael) he agreed to face Holyfield. 1984 Olympic bronze medalist Evander Holyfield began his pro career fighting in the Light Heavyweight division before setting himself the goal of unifying the Cruiserweight division as a prelude to becoming a Heavyweight. He was attempting to become the first boxer from the 1984 Olympic boxing team to win a world title.

The fight

There were no knockdowns, but the fight was close and competitive with Holyfield outworking and outlanding Qawi. Two judges,

Harold Lederman Harold Lederman (January 26, 1940 – May 11, 2019) was an American boxing judge and analyst. He began his career as a boxing judge in 1967 and joined the cast of ''HBO World Championship Boxing'' in 1986, and was there until HBO dropped boxing ...

and Neffie Quintana scored the bout for Holyfield 144–140 & 147–138, while the third judge Gordon Volkman scored it for Qawi 143–141 giving Holyfield a split decision victory and his first world title The bout would be named as the best cruiserweight fight of the 1980s by Ring Magazine as well as "One of the last great fifteen round title bouts".

Aftermath

Holyfield would go unify the WBA &

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

titles by knocking out

Rickey Parkey Ricky Parkey (born November 7, 1956) is a retired American boxer, the former IBF Cruiserweight Champion of the World, hailing from Morristown, Tennessee. Professional career Parkey turned professional in 1981 and won the IBF cruiserweight titl ...

in three rounds before easily beating Muhammad Qawi in a rematch in December 1987. He would then become the first Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion by stopping

Carlos de León Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

the following April and quickly moved up to heavyweight. Qawi would spend most of the rest of his career as a cruiserweight and would have one more unsuccessful bid to reclaim a world title finally retiring in 1999.

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:

Broadcasting

ABC aired the event live as part of ''

ABC's Wide World of Sports ''ABC's Wide World of Sports'' is an American sports anthology television program that aired on ABC from April 29, 1961 to January 3, 1998, primarily on Saturday afternoons. Hosted by Jim McKay, with a succession of co-hosts beginning in 198 ...

'', with

Al Trautwig Alan Trautwig (born February 26, 1956) is a sports commentator who worked with MSG Network, ABC, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and USA Network. He most recently did pre-game and post-game shows for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, as well a ...

and

Alex Wallau Alex Wallau (born January 11, 1945) is a former president of the ABC television network. Wallau began his career with ABC in 1976, when he joined the network's Sports division under Roone Arledge, then head of ABC Sports. Wallau went on to become ...

on the call.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad Qawi, Holyfield 1986 in boxing Boxing matches involving Evander Holyfield Boxing matches in Atlanta 1986 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state) July 1986 sports events in the United States