"I learned to fight on the streets in Camden [N.J.]," he told ESPN.com. "Me and my brother Tony used to box, like a lot of people in the street. They didn't play with guns or knives in those days -- they were good with their hands. I also had a couple stints in jail and you have to be able to handle yourself in there. Guys boxed in there and hit the bags, but there was no 'program.' I had no amateur career. But I was undefeated in the street."
The streets taught him well.
Qawi (formerly Dwight Braxton) was a light heavyweight champion in the division's glory days, beating, among others, Johnny Davis, Mike Rossman, Saad Muhammad, James Scott, Jerry Martin and Eddie Davis.