Who was Dwight Muhammad Qawi, the boxer who came from prison.

The boxing world mourns the passing of Dwight Muhammad Qawi, one of the best-known boxers of the ’80s. During his career, he was WBC middleweight champion and later held the WBA light heavyweight belt.

His is a story worth telling. A Baltimore native, Dwight Braxton (that was his name before converting to’Islam in 1982), began boxing in Rahway State Prison while serving a sentence for armed robbery.

He was released from prison in 1982.

After his release from prison at the age of 25, he turned professional, taking several honors for himself. He captured the WBC middleweight belt in 1981, beating Matthew Saad Muhammad. Moved up a category in 1983, The Camden Buzzsaw (one of his nicknames) won the WBA light heavyweight title by defeating Piet Crous in July 1985.

Of note are his challenges with Evander Holyfield and against legend George Foreman. His retirement came in 1998, at the age of 46. In 2004 he was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. LQawi’s sister, Wanda King, said his death came after a long struggle, lasting a full five years, with a form of dementia. She was 72 years old.