The world of boxing lost one if its most exciting combatants as former World Light Heavyweight Champion, Matthew Saad Muhammad died today at the age of 59 in Philadelphia of ALS.
Muhammad rose through the ranks and in 1979 he defeated Marvin Johnson for the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship with an 8th round Knockout. He would make eight successful title defences including the Ring Magazine Fight of the Year in a fourteen round TKO win over Yaqui Lopez. He held the World Title until Dwight Muhammad Qawi defeated him in December of 1981 and realistically his time at the top had come to the end.
He would continue to box for the rest of the decade though he would trade losses with wins finishing up with a career record of 49-16-3 with 35 Knockouts. Muhammad would actually try his hand at Mixed Martial Arts at the first ever UWFI show in Japan, though he was defeated within a minute.
Like many other former boxers, his career after the ring did not go well. By 2010, he was homeless and broke, and became another tragic tale. We would rather remember him for his past glory and as the International Boxing Hall of Fame member of the Class of 1998. We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Matthew Saad Muhammad.
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