Matthew Saad Muhammad: The Ultimate Warrior

Matthew Saad Muhammad: The Ultimate Warrior

Matthew Saad Muhammad was finished as a fighter when he was only 28, but he didn’t stop fighting until a decade or so later. Approaching 40, the old warrior still kept fighting for loose change and what had long since gone.

Saad Muhammad had taken way too many punches long before he ran out of miracles the night Dwight Muhammad Qawi relieved him of his WBC light-heavyweight title in 1981. The heroic, unforgettable, seemingly never-ending series of comebacks from near oblivion was always going to take a toll on the career of Saad Muhammad, and ultimately, the quality of his life once the gloves of his trade were finally put to rest.

Saad Muhammad was abandoned as a child, lost on the Philadelphia streets, and his later years ended pretty much in the same manner. Lost in his own thoughts, periods of homelessness, a different night, a different friend, a different sofa, the hard-earned money long gone, the hangers-on went with it. The desperate times saw Saad Muhammad continue his career, long past the point of no return. Meagre paydays in boxing’s wastelands, every defeat, every ring walk took a little more away from the once proud former champion.

In his prime, Saad Muhammad didn’t know when to quit, and sadly, in his decline, this was the case also. A refusal to let go, a refusal to accept, and once the realisation eventually and reluctantly came, he was another sad statistic and yet another victim of a sport that has a history of them.

There was self-inflicted excess, but equally, he could and should have been advised better. The millions quickly turned into a fight for a few dollars more, and losing his title on the night the well finally ran dry, cost him in many ways.

Saad Muhammad competed and reigned in that once-in-a-generation era of light-heavyweight talent. But it came at a price. The wars mounted up, and the punches absorbed never left his body. A different time, this wasn’t an era of two fights a year. If ever a fighter needed a lighter schedule, it was Matthew Saad Muhammad. Just three months before he lost it all, Saad Muhammad traded punches with Jerry Martin. A relentless unforgiving workload that would only end one way. No benefit of hindsight was needed.

The Philadelphia legend didn’t want to end up like he did. He wanted to be different. Saad Muhammad was always a couple of fights away from retirement. He talked about getting out, but the big unification fight with Eddie Mustafa Muhammad or Michael Spinks, respective holders of the WBA bauble never came. It was there for the taking. There was always another fight to be had before the big one until it became a case of one fight too many when the fists of Dwight Muhammad Qawi practically wrote the fighting obituary. It turned out Saad Muhammad wasn’t different after all.

Saad Muhammad made his excuses, as did those that whispered in his ear in the hope the gravy train would align on the right track one more time. Every subsequent defeat brought another excuse. Every new trainer brought new hope. It didn’t last. Sadly, only the long, painful, tragic end to his career did.

After losing his title, Saad Muhammad lost twelve times before the final bell finally chimed. If he didn’t know before the rematch with Dwight Muhammad Qawi that his time was up, it was that return that should have convinced him. Saad Muhammad lost even more convincingly the second time around, but the gloves just couldn’t be put in cold storage just yet. It went on. And on.

The unforgettable wars with Marvin Johnson, John Conteh, Yaqui Lopez and others were replaced by the tragic forgettable defeats to the likes of Andrew Maynard, Eric Winbush, Frankie Swindell and others offering pitiful feeble resistance in comparison to what came before. It was beyond sad. The end finally came after just one solitary win in his last nine fights and three straight defeats. In 1992, Jason Waller, who stopped the faded champion in two desperately sad rounds, was the last fighter to claim a tenuous victory over the former light-heavyweight champion of the world. But even the loss to Waller wasn’t the final nail. A trip into the world of MMA in Japan got Saad Muhammad a few more dollars and another quick defeat. Hoodwinked into a world he didn’t belong Saad Muhammad was there for a reason. He still had value in his name if nothing else. It looked good on paper, but having a W over Saad Muhammad in the latter part of his career meant nothing. That legacy-making 18-fight winning streak between 1977 and 1981 was long in the rearview mirror. The winner couldn’t even really say I beat what was left of the great champion. In truth, there was nothing left. Boxing is a sport that seemingly can’t let the past go out with any semblance of dignity. The sad story of the demise of Matthew Saad Muhammad is sadly a familiar one.

Retirement wasn’t kind to Saad Muhammad. Is it ever? An induction into the International Hall of Fame offered a rare glimpse of light that shined through the dark. His health suffered badly when retirement belatedly came, and bankruptcy was a bitter pill to swallow after the high life at his peak. The fall was severe, and it is an all too familiar tale of rags to riches and back to the rags as the good times stopped calling. Time spent training fighters and working as a roofer kept at least some dignity in his life.

Matthew Saad Muhammad fought his last fight in 2014. He sadly passed away aged just 59. I always say in these types of stories that I write far too many times that we should always remember the prime and not the decline. But the decline of Saad Muhammad was so brutal and so savage it is difficult to remember the prime with an open heart. The wars that he became famous for ruined him as a fighter and as a person once the glory days were over. Saad Muhammad provided many glorious and wonderful memories, but with what we know now, they are memories that are more tinged with sadness and regret. Anger even. A fighter who needed protecting from himself in many ways.