The Perfect Performance: March 31, 1980
Greg Smith - 4/16/2005
Like artists and writers, boxers aren’t often remembered for their best
performances. It is the hidden, almost obscure works of art that possess the
highest intrinsic value. For instance, Julio Cesar Chavez is best remembered
for his epic bout with Meldrick Taylor in 1990. In reality, I think JC
Superstar peaked as a fighter on November 21, 1987 with his perfect
execution in dismantling and destroying Edwin Rosario.
When former WBA light heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad is dead
and gone decades from now, his headstone will probably read the same as the
tattoo on his arm: Loved By Few, Hated By Many, Respected By All. It is
indeed the signature of a true believing activist who gives no quarter, and
doesn’t ask for sympathy or forgiveness in return. Intelligent, articulate,
unyielding, brutally honest, and tough, Brooklyn-born Eddie Mustafa
Muhammad, the leader of J.A.B. (www.boxersunion.org) will probably be
remembered more for being a leading activist in boxing reform instead of by
his performances in the ring.
As a fighter, discipline and diet were among Eddie’s toughest opponents, and
probably inhibited him from becoming a long reigning champion mentioned in
the same breath as Archie Moore, Billy Conn, Bob Foster, and yes, Michael
Spinks.
To be sure, I don’t think simple lack of character was his downfall like so
many fighters who never reach their potential. Mustafa Muhammad actually has
an abundance of character and chutzpah. Rather, as one early 1980s scribe
posited, Eddie might’ve been just a little too cerebral to be a fighter.
Some of the brightest people in life are underachievers in their chosen
profession, and aren’t motivated by fame and fortune. They are motivated by
causes without external reward; the reward of a greater good.
Eddie started his career as a middleweight, but grew into the light
heavyweight division and established himself as a leading contender. In
1977, Eddie won a controversial 10 round decision over Matthew Saad Muhammad
(then Matthew Franklin). Two fights later, Eddie landed a title shot against
WBA belt holder Victor Galindez, but lost a controversial 15 round decision.
After the loss to Galindez, Eddie tallied seven straight wins (six
knockouts) before facing off against Rahway State Prison inmate James Scott
on October 13, 1978. Scott, who was released from prison in November 2004,
was in the early stages of his long stint in the New Jersey penal system. He
was in superb mental and physical shape for the fight, and primed for the
upset. In contrast, Eddie appeared curiously lackadaisical and out of shape,
and Scott outhustled Eddie to win a unanimous twelve round decision.
The win catapulted Scott into the national spotlight. Over the next few
years, Scott embarked on his memorable and unprecedented quest to gain a
title shot while incarcerated. After winning several national televised
fights from inside the prison walls of Rahway, Scott eventually lost to
Jerry “The Bull” Martin in May 1980 and Dwight Muhammad Qawi in September
1981, and never got the title shot he clamored for.
For Eddie, the Scott bout served as a wake up call, and he re-dedicated
himself to both the craft of boxing and his religion. Eddie quietly won six
straight bouts (five knockouts) in 1979 while contenders like Scott grabbed
most of the headlines. Eddie’s steady success did reap dividends, however,
as he was able to land a title shot against newly crowned WBA titlist Marvin
Johnson on March 31, 1980.
Johnson, one of the toughest light heavyweights of the last thirty years,
lost his WBC light heavyweight title in one of the greatest fights of all
time to Matthew Saad Muhammad on April 22, 1979. Later that same year,
Johnson regained a piece of the light heavyweight crown by stopping and
breaking the jaw of WBA titlist Victor Galindez at the Superdome in New
Orleans.
Eddie, who was still known as Eddie Gregory at the time, was expected to
lose to Johnson. Johnson gave EVERYONE big problems even in defeat. When
Johnson lost his WBC title to Saad, Saad emphatically stated that Johnson
was the best light heavyweight he had ever fought. Moreover, Johnson’s title
winning effort over the ultra-tough and resilient Galindez was brutal,
impressive, and ruthless. Many experts believed that Johnson’s inexorable
attack of maximum leverage shots from the southpaw stance would prevail over
Eddie’s sporadic bursts.
What happened on March 31, 1980 isn’t remembered well in boxing history
because it was overshadowed by the unanimous Ring Magazine, KO Magazine, and
IBHOF 1980 Fight of the Year: Matthew Saad Muhammad vs. Yaqui Lopez 2. It
was vintage Saad. In an incredible war and on the brink of a stoppage loss
several times during the fight, Saad rallied to take Lopez out in the
fourteenth round.
It was the epitome of a great fight, and a great performance by Saad. In my
opinion, however, for many reasons Saad's dramatic win wasn’t the best
performance by a light heavyweight in 1980, and Saad wasn’t the best light
heavyweight in the world in 1980, either. Both honors go to Eddie Mustafa
Muhammad. Allow me to explain why.
Like Arturo Gatti today, Saad Muhammad thrilled fans with many of the
essential ingredients of a great fighter: tremendous courage, stamina,
power, a great chin, and the ability to pry victory from the jaws of defeat
in the worst circumstances.
Upon further analysis, the true, pure art of boxing entails the ability to
hit and not be hit, and execute a game plan to near perfection. Some
fighters are able to do this with such subtle and cool elan that many fans
deem them boring. Nicolino Locche and Charley Burley are prime examples of
this problem.
By the same token, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad was a calculating counter puncher
who was extremely economical in his output. Throughout his career, these
attributes proved to be both his biggest strengths and weaknesses in myriad
ways. On March 31, 1980, his skill set was honed to a fine edge, and the
result was one of the greatest performances in light heavyweight title fight
history.
From the opening bell, Eddie, attired in old school G&S trunks with black
and red trim and low top Pony shoes, took control of the bout immediately.
Like Saad did a year earlier, Eddie faced Johnson straight up, but more
intelligently. As Johnson quickly moved in to land his bombs in the first
round, Eddie took a slight step to the left and landed the key punch that
would determine the outcome of the bout: the left hook to the body.
When Johnson resumed his attack, Eddie would patiently duck, dip, and roll
with the shots instead of taking them full force like Saad. Eddie didn’t
rush the attack. He established proper distance, analyzed Johnson’s angles,
and didn’t waste energy. To the untrained eye, Johnson’s aggression might
have won him the first round. Actually, he didn’t win one second of it. He
was being set up for the kill.
In the second round, Eddie began to land his trademark straight right hand,
and continued to land more thudding left hooks to the body. Resolute,
Johnson continued his attack, but the pattern of the bout was intractably
established. Johnson would move in and throw combinations. Eddie would slip
or roll with most of the shots, and occasionally side step and spin Johnson.
He would patiently look for openings, and land quick counter right hands to
the head and left hooks to the body while mixing in jabs and lead right
hands. Eddie’s output was characteristically limited, but highly effective.
In the third round, Eddie landed a hard straight right hand followed by a
tremendous left hook to the body that seemed to stun and paralyze Johnson in
his tracks. The hook was followed by a right hand to the head that deposited
Johnson on the deck.
Hurt, confused, but willing, Johnson got up immediately, and took the
mandatory eight count. Almost helpless, he attempted to defend himself as
Eddie punished him with an array of uppercuts, left hooks, and right hands.
Johnson gradually regained his faculties despite the relentless pounding and
appeared to steer himself out of imminent danger. Cognizant that Johnson
wasn't completely ripe for the taking, Eddie smartly reverted to building a
foundation of carefully placed right hands followed by left hooks to the
body for the remainder of the round.
As the round ended, announcer Keith Jackson opined that Eddie might’ve been
too patient in putting Johnson away. In truth, Johnson might’ve survived the
third round, but it was actually the sign of more to come.
Outgunned from long range, Johnson attempted to take the fight to the inside
to smother Eddie’s power in rounds four and five. He was superficially
effective and opened a cut over Eddie’s left eye in the fifth round, but
Eddie’s patented left hook counters to the body and searing uppercuts to the
head seemed to gradually take the steam out of Johnson’s attack.
It was like watching Eddie apply a center-of-the-ring version of the
rope-a-dope. He’d allow Johnson to pound away while carefully rolling with
the shots, and would then retaliate in spots while taking the opponent into
deeper waters. For every four shots that glanced off Eddie’s elbows and
gloves, he would land two, hard quality shots in return; the art of fighting
without fighting.
In the sixth and seventh rounds, Eddie established more distance and slowed
the pace of the fight. Johnson attempted to regain control, but he wasn’t
close to being effective as he was against both Saad and Galindez. When
Johnson was able to work inside, Eddie would effectively cover and roll or
tie Johnson up.
Some of Johnson’s blows were effective, but Eddie would intelligently move
into the correct range and land wicked right hands and left hooks as he
pleased. It was a different Johnson. He simply couldn’t establish dominance
regardless of Eddie’s less-than-prodigious output. Marvin was being
outsmarted by a better fighter in a slow, tortuous, and insidious manner.
Batting practice began in the eighth round. Picking up the pace, Eddie
starting landing sweeping right hands to the head, and straight right hands
to the body. Left hooks to the body were placed judiciously on the inside to
add to the damage.
Midway through the round, the normally aggressive Johnson forced a clinch,
perhaps showing for the first time in the fight that the end was only a few
rounds away. Tired with blood covering most of his white trunks, he began to
retreat as Eddie almost leisurely hammered him with well placed power shots.
In the ninth, Eddie threw out some bait and reverted to his passive, counter
punching style. Johnson took the bait hook, line, and sinker, and attempted
to establish his jab to set up combinations. It was the same type of jab
Marvin utilized when he took the WBC crown from Mate Parlov in 1978, but
Eddie would calmly move his head just enough to diminish the impact while he
looked for openings.
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As the round passed, both circled slowly and traded blows, and it looked
like Johnson might be gaining a second wind to get himself back into the
fight after the drubbing he took in the eighth. He didn't realize that he
was being lulled into a false sense of security.
With seconds to go in the round, Eddie effectively lured Marvin in and
staggered him with a monster right hand on the chin followed by body and
head shots. Johnson was shook the core, and walked unsteadily back to his
corner. In a cool and detached manner, Eddie walked back to his corner in
seeming mock disappointment for his inability to take Johnson out at that
moment.
Sensing the end was near, Eddie picked up the pace and battered Johnson in
the tenth. Straight right hands, left hooks to the body, sweeping right
hands to the head from long range took a visible toll on Johnson. Marvin was
bleeding badly from the nose, and gamely tried to mount his own attack, but
his answers were met with brutal rejoinders.
With about fifteen seconds to go in the round, Eddie switched up and decided
to go with a smashing right hand to the body instead of the left hook, and
Johnson momentarily sagged from the impact. Dissected, near collapse, but
with the fortitude of a Marine Corps Battalion, Johnson survived the round.
In the eleventh, Eddie boxed at a poised and measured pace as Johnson
attempted to rally. Behind the veil, however, Johnson was spent. The
accumulation of vicious head and power shots was too much, and one could
sense that one more big rally might put Johnson over the edge.
With about a minute to go in the round, Eddie quickly exploded with a three
punch combination to Johnson’s head. Staggered and trying to stay on his
feet, Johnson absorbed another nasty combination of head and body shots as
referee Carlos Berrocal stepped in to call a halt to the slaughter at 2:43
of the round.
Eddie exulted in triumph and went to his knees with his arms raised in
victory as his handlers rushed into the ring to hoist him in the air. It was
his moment, and signaled the end of a perfectly crafted and executed game
plan.
Eddie would go on to successfully defend his portion of the title twice. A
unification bout with Matthew Saad Muhammad fell through. He made an attempt
to annex the heavyweight division, but out of shape and with an ailing back,
he lost a lackluster decision to Renaldo Snipes in early 1981. A few months
later, he quickly lost a few dozen pounds and lost his title to Michael
Spinks on a fifteen round decision.
Eddie ran off a series of wins over the next few years, but lost a decision
to Slobodan Kacar for the IBF light heavyweight title in 1985. Eddie was
inactive in 1986 and 1987. He retired after suffering his first and only
stoppage loss to Arthel Lawhorne in 1988. His final record reads 50-8-1 (39
knockouts).
Throughout his career, Marvin Johnson fought the very best of his division.
He was an honest, blue-collar fighter of the highest integrity. He took
Matthew Saad Muhammad to the brink twice, he dominated and destroyed Mate
Parlov and Victor Galindez, stopped the highly underrated Eddie Davis twice,
and was giving Michael Spinks significant problems until being knocked
senseless by a hookercut in their 1981 bout.
In true form, Johnson recovered and pushed on. He went on a four year,
fourteen bout win streak after losing to Spinks. During that period, he
taught a young Prince Charles Williams valuable lessons in winning an easy
unanimous decision in 1984.
Marvin became a three-time champion by winning the WBA light heavyweight
title in 1986 with a seventh round TKO of Leslie Stewart. He successfully
defended his title with a thirteenth round TKO of Jean-Marie Emebbe that
same year.
In 1987, far past his prime but dead game, Johnson lost his title to Stewart
in a rematch and never fought again. Marvin ended his career with a record
of 43-6-0 (35 knockouts).
Intriguingly enough, of all of the great light heavyweights of the late
1970s and early 1980s, Johnson is the fighter who was able to compete at the
highest level for the longest period of time in that division.
Saad was never the same after the Qawi bouts. Spinks eventually departed
for the heavyweight division in 1985. Qawi lost to Spinks and moved to the
cruiserweight division, but truly peaked as a fighter in 1982. Scott faded
into obscurity after losing to Qawi in 1981. Yaqui Lopez moved to
cruiserweight shortly after his TKO loss to Michael Spinks in 1980. In a bid
for the WBC cruiserweight crown, Lopez was stopped in the fourth round by
Carlos DeLeon in 1983. He lost his next fight, and retired for good. Mike
Rossman burned out quickly, and was never a force again after losing the
rematch to Galindez.
During his long and prestigious career, Marvin Johnson was never dominated
like he was on March 31, 1980. Some would argue that Johnson’s defeat was a
function of the old axiom that styles make fights, but I don’t believe that
to be true. Johnson fought plenty of crafty counter punchers during his
career, but wasn’t completely taken apart like he was by Eddie Mustafa
Muhammad. After all, Johnson’s trunks were covered in blood, and he suffered
a set of broken ribs from Eddie’s destructive body attack. He was well
behind on all scorecards. He was exhausted and helpless when the fight was
stopped.
The main reason for Johnson’s defeat is simple: He fought a superior ring
technician who fought at an optimal level. He fell into traps, and couldn't
get out.
When fans talk about Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, they talk about his career as a
trainer after he retired in 1988. They talk about his leadership of J.A.B.,
and they talk about how good he could've become as a fighter. Sadly, Eddie
has never been properly recognized for his best performance. It was a
masterpiece.
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