I think it's a pretty close fight... Tiger didn't always fight like Tiger... He was sticking and moving against Torres...
In Terms of Height, this would Be THE SHORTEST Lightheavy Matchup in History::... All Kidding Aside, Qawi's Waaaaaaaaaaaay toooooooooo STRONG for Tiger...Qawi Would Absolutely FEAST Upon a SMALLER Lightheavy than Himself... REEDopcorn:
I think Qawi is the most overrated legitimately top class light heavyweight ever He was a counterpuncher who came forward because he had to (too short to fight off the backfoot) but he wasn't this relentless Joe Frazier he's depicted as (his nickname aside) He had some good performances, but his stature is exaggerated because of the Saad fights (Saad was done... He had to drop something like 10 pounds in the week leading to the fight and was still a pound and a half over and drained at the morning weigh-in... plus he was already starting to deteriorate from all of the brutal fights of the previous 5 years) ... You put a 1978-79 Saad in there and those fights are WAY FUCKING DIFFERENT Qawi froze up against Spinks as well... he didn't like what was coming at him and backed off a lot in that fight... Qawi is not Bob Foster, he's not having an easy time with Dick Tiger under any circumstance... Tiger did not have to fight like Tiger to win, he proved it against Torres... This is a close fight
Spinks was Also 6'3 & Used his Jab & Lateral Movement THROUGHOUT the Fight, Bro...REED Doesn't Recall Qawi Being Deterred by Spinks' POWER Necessarily...It was More a Case of him Being DISCOURAGED by the Reality of NEVER Being Able to Track Down or Land Enough CLEAN Shots to win the Fight... If NATHAN Else, Qawi was Significantly STRONGER than Tiger was...Tiger would HAVE to Fight from the Perimeter, to have Any Chance of Winning...Could ANY Version of Dick Tiger Go Toe to Toe w/a YOUNG Evander Holyfield???...Qawi Did... Historically, REED Thinks Qawi Beats Marvin Johnson, Victor Galindez & Quite a Few Other Noteworthy Lightheavys...He's Rightfully NOT Considered an All-Time Great, Because Qawi WASN'T "Great"...But Neither was Dick Tiger, @ 175.... REED:mj:
Fair points but I disagree wildly on the Holyfield one because it's irrelevant... different fighters adapt differently to weight changes... Qawi at 175 has nothing to do with Qawi at 190... Duran went toe to toe with Sugar Ray Leonard at 147... Esteban Dejesus went toe to toe with Duran at 135... I don't know about you, but I don't like Esteban's chances of going toe to toe with any welterweight, never mind Leonard... Erik Morales outfought Manny Pacquaio at 130... regardless of how much of a cheating bum Margarito was, I don't particularly like Morales chances at 154 against the same Margarito that Pacquaio punched non-stop for 12 rounds... Qawi was able to carry that weight well, Tiger wouldn't have carried 190 at all... this, however, is not meaningful between them at 175... Tiger was still plenty strong at 175, not the younger tank-like specimen he was at 160, obviously, but still plenty strong... I'm not saying he necessarily wins, but it's not even close to being a walkover or a no-brainer... Tiger was strong, durable as hell and smart... As you say, he was not great anymore at 175, but neither was Qawi (though both were excellent) I also agree that Qawi beats Johnson and most likely Galindez (though he is a difficult one because of his style and because the judges loved him)
