ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Dwight Braxton, the World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion, is like a bill collector who wants immediate and total payment.
'I'm a counter-puncher who makes opponents pay for their mistakes. And they pay dearly .. and often,' said Braxton, who faces Michael Spinks, the World Boxing Association light heavyweight champion, in a title unification bout Friday night.
Braxton, a non-stop puncher who has a bob-and-weave style, is a 6-5 underdog to the unbeaten Spinks, 22-0 with 16 knockouts.
Braxton won the WBC title from Matthew Saad Muhammad on Dec. 19, 1981 and has defended it three times, including a six-round demolition of Saad Muhammad in their rematch last August. In his last bout, Braxton stopped Eddie Davis in 11 rounds.
Rock Newman, Braxton's manager, feels his fighter is better prepared mentally for this fight than any other.
'I feel extremely confident,' Newman said. 'I'm more confident than before the Saad fight. I see a singleness of purpose in Dwight. He is more skillful and smarter than Spinks.
'Spinks would have to kill the guy to beat him. It's not a determination he's wearing on his sleeve. It's just that he has an understanding from whence he came and having a full perception of what this fight means.'
Newman also said people have the wrong impression of Braxton's style.
'Somehere along the line, some people have gotten the misconception that he's a brawler. He's a boxer. Spinks has a million weaknesses and Dwight's style is perfect. Spinks is an amateur. He won't be able to stand the heat. Spinks is an immobile target, he telegraphs his punches. Dwight is hard to hit and when you write Dwight a letter, forget it.
'Dwight is a scientist and he's going to operate on Spinks.'
The 15-round bout, promoted by Butch Lewis, will be held at the 14,000-seat Atlantic City Convention Hall and will be televised by Home Box Office (HBO). Each fighter will receive about $1.2 million, the largest purses in the history of the light heavyweight division.
The winner will join world middleweight title holder Marvin Hagler as the only champion recognized by both the WBC and WBA and will be the first world light heavyweight champion since Bob Foster in 1974.
Braxton feels his pressuring style will be too much for Spinks.
'I'll be so close to him that people will think we're Siamese twins, with my head connected to his chest,' said Braxton. 'He won't be able to cope. He'll be looking for a breather but he won't get one. I intend to fight three minutes of every round, whether the bout goes one round or 15. But don't expect it to go the distance.'
Braxton, now 30, learned to box in Rahway State Penitentiary in New Jersey, where he served time for armed robbery. At Rahway, he sparred with former light heavyweight contender James Scott -- who he later defeated -- and turned professional in 1978. He did not have an amateur fight, unlike Spinks who had a brilliant amateur career topped by a gold medal in the 1976 Olympics.
Late last year Braxton adopted his Muslim name -- Dwight Muhammad Qawi -- but agreed to use Braxton just for this fight for recognition purposes. Relgion, he says, keeps boxing in perspective.
'It holds me together and other things in my life,' he said. 'I don't let boxing become my whole reality. I knows there's something bigger and better. Boxing doesn't have to become everything. I'm balanced.'
