Dwight Muhammad Qawi pugile

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 titles from 1981 to 1983, and the WBA cruiserweight title from 1985 to 1986. Qawi was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004.Qawi, then known as Dwight Braxton, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but grew up in Camden, New Jersey, where he got involved with crime at a young age. He was eventually convicted of armed robbery and spent around five years in prison.It was in Rahway State Prison that Braxton found his place in life. The prison had an extensive boxing program and one of its inmates, James Scott, was a light heavyweight title contender who fought several times inside the prison itself. Braxton took up the sport, and when he was released from prison in 1978, immediately became a professional boxer. Qawi's style was most often likened to Joe Frazier and with good reason as he had trained in Frazier's Philadelphia gym as a professional. He converted to Islam in the early 80's and had his name changed from Dwight Braxton to Dwight Muhammad Qawi.He went 1-1-1 in his first three pro fights, but then reeled off 14 straight victories to move into the world rankings at light heavyweight. The last of those wins came on September 5, 1981, when Braxton returned to Rahway to fight Scott, with the winner promised a shot at Matthew Saad Muhammad's WBC world championship belt. Braxton won a unanimous 10-round decision.On December 19 of the same year, Braxton faced Saad Muhammad in Atlantic City. Braxton was the underdog against Saad, one of the most popular fighters of his generation and a fellow Hall of Famer, but Braxton defeated him on a 10th-round technical knockout and became a world champion for the first time. It was shortly after this that he announced his conversion to Islam and changed his name.He defended the title three times in the next 15 months, knocking out Jerry Martin, Saad Muhammad a second time and Eddie Davis. On March 18, 1983, he lost a close but unanimous decision to WBA champion Michael Spinks in a unification bout.