Matthew Saad Muhammad (born Maxwell Antonio Loach; June 16, 1954 – May 25, 2014) was an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who was the WBC

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

Champion of the World for two-and-a-half years.

Background

Saad Muhammad's mother died when he was an infant,Resources for Human Development. ''One Step Away'', July 2010,
Matthew Saad Muhammad
. Retrieved 25 October 2010. and he and his elder brother were sent to live with an aunt. When he was five, his aunt could not afford to look after both of them and she instructed his brother to get rid of him. His brother took him to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...

Parkway and then ran away. Saad Muhammad was taken in by Catholic Social Services. The

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

gave him the name Matthew Franklin (after the

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

and the parkway where he was found). Matthew lived in foster care until a couple from Philadelphia adopted him, raised him, and took care of him like he was their own. Saad Muhammad was very popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s among boxing fans because of his particularly action-oriented style. Saad Muhammad was known for his ability to take punishment and mount comebacks, and because of this, he was nicknamed Miracle Matthew. Saad Muhammad was also part of a group of world light heavyweight champions who became

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s and changed their names during his era as a Light-Heavyweight, the others being Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (born as Eddie Gregory), and Dwight Muhammad Qawi (born as Dwight Braxton). Saad Muhammad confirmed this in interviews following his boxing career, stating that he was inspired to convert by

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

's conversion.

Amateur career

Saad Muhammad had a relatively short amateur career, consisting of only 20 amateur bouts. He won the Trenton (NJ) Golden Gloves in 1973 and turned pro the following year.

Professional boxing career

Saad Muhammad began to box professionally in 1974, winning his first fight with a second-round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

win against Billy Early. He posted seven more wins that year before suffering his first loss at the hands of Wayne McGee by a decision in six rounds. In 1975, after two wins, he and McGee fought again, in a six-round draw. In 1976, he had two matches each with future world champions Marvin Camel and

Mate Parlov Mate Parlov (16 November 1948 – 29 July 2008) was a Croatian- Yugoslavian boxer and Olympic gold medalist who was European and World Champion as an amateur and as a professional. Background Mate Parlov was born in Split, the youngest of four ...

. His first fight with Parlov, in

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, was also his first fight abroad. He beat Parlov in an eight-round decision. He then beat Camel in a ten-round decision, but lost the rematch, also in a ten-round decision. He returned to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for a rematch with Parlov, which resulted in a ten-round draw. Saad Muhammad began 1977 by losing to Mustafa Muhammad (then Edward Lee Gregory), but then defeated the future three-time world champion Marvin Johnson by a knockout in round 12 for the

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Light-Heavyweight title in his first nationally televised match. In 1978, he won all four of his bouts, including successful defenses of his title against former world title challenger Richie Kates and against four-time world title challenger Yaqui López. The Lopez fight, their first of two, was considered a classic by boxing experts, Saad Muhammad surviving a relentless attack by López to score an 11th-round knockout. In 1979, after Johnson became world champion by defeating Parlov, he and Saad Muhammad met again on April 22 in Johnson's hometown of

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

for the WBC's world light heavyweight crown . In a fight considered by many experts as a ''Saad Muhammad classic'', and which subsequently featured on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's ''Classic Fights'' show, Saad Muhammad won with an eight-round knockout after staggering Johnson towards the end of the seventh round. Shortly afterward, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Matthew Saad Muhammad. In his first title defense, Saad Muhammad met former world champion

John Conteh John Anthony Conteh, (born 27 May 1951) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980. He held the WBC light-heavyweight title from 1974 to 1978, and regionally the European, British and Commonwealth titles between 1 ...

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. He retained the world title with a 15-round decision. The decision, however, was voided and a rematch ordered because Muhammad's cornermen used an illegal substance to stop the bleeding from a cut. Muhammad retained the crown with a knockout in round four in the second bout. After defeating Louis Pergaud, he and López met again, this time, with the world title on the line. Their rematch has also been shown by ESPN's ''classic'' network several times, it was the ''fight of the year'' for 1980, according to

Ring Magazine ''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...

, and is still written about by boxing aficionados. Saad Muhammad was hit with 20 ''unanswered'' blows in round eight, but he recovered and dropped López five times en route to a 14th-round knockout win. “This was my toughest fight,” said Saad Muhammad of the fight, which some consider the closest López ever came to a world title. He then went on to defeat

Lottie Mwale Lottie Mwale (14 April 1952 – 18 October 2005) was a Zambian male Light Heavyweight-class boxer who was Commonwealth and African Boxing Union champion for a period of six years. Mwale, who is Zambia’s greatest boxer, also won the World ...

, Vonzell Johnson, future world Super-Middleweight champion Murray Sutherland and Jerry Martin, all in defense of his world title, before losing to Dwight Muhammad Qawi in December 1981. In yet another fight that would later by shown on ESPN's classic network, Saad Muhammad lost his title when Qawi knocked him out in 10 rounds. Saad Muhammad entered 1982 with a rematch against Qawi within his sights, and he defeated Pete McIntyre by a knockout in round two. The rematch between Saad Muhammad and Qawi came off in August, at Saad Muhammad's hometown of

. The second time around, Qawi won by a knockout in round six. From there on until 1992, Saad Muhammad fought sporadically and with limited success. He had been confronting vision problems, and in 1986, he declared himself in

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

. After he lost the rematch to Qawi fought in

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Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

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and

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MMA career

Saad Muhammad also took a turn in the forerunner of mixed martial arts in Japan, participating in the first UWF International (UWFi) event in 1991. Matched against Kiyoshi Tamura, Saad Muhammad talked a great deal at a lead-in press conference. He declined to say in which round he would knock Tamura out, but guaranteed a victory. Tamura submitted Saad Muhammad 34 seconds into the first round.

Retirement from boxing

Saad Muhammad retired from professional boxing with a record of 39 wins, 16 losses and 3 draws, with 29 wins by knockout. In 1998, he became a member of the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

Boxing trainer

Muhammad trained up and coming fighters out of

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

and worked closely with former Indian Olympic boxing team heavyweight Gurcharan "The Guru" Singh.

Retirement and death

In July 2010, Saad Muhammad was homeless and living in a shelter in Philadelphia. He later became involved in charity work in the Philadelphia area, some of which focused on raising money for the homeless. He died at a hospital in Philadelphia on May 25, 2014; his cause of death was unknown, though he was diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most commo ...

(ALS). Muhammad was listed as number 24 on ''

s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad, Matthew Saad 1954 births 2014 deaths American male boxers African-American boxers Boxers from Philadelphia Converts to Islam African-American Muslims African-American former Christians African American adoptees Sportspeople with a vision impairment Deaths from motor neuron disease Neurological disease deaths in Pennsylvania Burials at Ivy Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees World light-heavyweight boxing champions World Boxing Council champions The Ring (magazine) champions