Matthew Saad Muhammad

Matthew Saad Muhammad
Data
Birth Name	Maxwell Antonio Loach
Weight class	Light heavyweight
nationality	US-american
birthday	5th August 1954
place of birth	Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
Date of death	May 25, 2014
Place of death	Chestnut Hill , Pennsylvania
style	Left delivery
size	1.80 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	58
Victories	39
Knockout victories	29
Defeats	16
draw	3

Matthew Saad Muhammad (born August 5, 1954 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † May 25, 2014 in Chestnut Hill , Pennsylvania; born Maxwell Antonio Loach ) was an American boxer .

Life

Saad Muhammad's mother died when he was five years old; he and his older brother were then taken in by an aunt. When she could no longer afford the supplies and told his brother to get rid of him, he abandoned him in Philadelphia at Benjamin Franklin Park. He later recalled trying to run after his brother but was too slow. He was accepted by nuns from the Catholic Social Service ; they named him after the park and Saint Matthew Franklin . He lived with foster parents for a while until he was finally adopted by a couple from Philadelphia.

professional

In 1974 he turned professional. In 1976 he defeated the undefeated Olympic champion and later world champion Mate Parlov in Italy and boxed the rematch in a draw; he defeated the also unbeaten Marvin Camel in the first duel, then lost the second. He lost to Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in 1977 on points. He was able to defeat the feared southpaw Marvin Johnson , also undefeated, prematurely in the same year. A little later he converted to Islam and has called himself Matthew Saad Muhammad ever since . In 1978 he was North American champion against the equally well-known tough Yaqui Lopez.

On April 22, 1979, he was able to knock Marvin Johnson in his hometown again and won the WBC light heavyweight title. In his first title defenses, he defeated the respected British John Conteh in 1979 and 1980, once controversial on points and once by knockout. In July 1980, the rematch against Lopez came to the most famous fight of his career when he was on the verge of a knockout defeat several times, but came back and defeated Lopez by technical knockout in the fourteenth round. Because of such fights, he was considered one of the most persistent boxers of all time with a legendary fighter heart. In the same year he also knocked out the undefeated Sauerland protégé Lotte Mwale .

On December 19, 1981, he lost his title by knocking out the hard hitting Dwight Qawi , who was then still called Braxton, and was prematurely defeated in the 1982 rematch. Since then, Muhammad has been going downhill rapidly. In 1984 he ended his career, but had to make a completely unsuccessful comeback due to financial difficulties, not least because of eye problems. B. also against Markus Bott .

In 1998 Saad Muhammad was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

He died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ex-champ Matthew Saad Muhammad dies at 59 ( Memento of the original from May 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ^ Nigel Collins: Nigel Collins on Saad Muhammad's Search for His Elusive Identity - Inside the Ring & Out. In: The Ring, July 1981, pp. 18-23

Web links

• Matthew Saad Muhammad in the BoxRec database
• Hall of Fame biography