Chad Dawson returns on June 19, possibly against Jean Pascal
by Scott Christ on Jan 10, 2010 6:46 PM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
Email
Print
Undefeated light heavyweight Chad Dawson will return to HBO on June 19, and everyone seems to want the fight to be against WBC titleholder Jean Pascal. Dawson holds the sanctioning body's interim title, having held their full title in the past before this, that and the other thing.
These titles are moronic.
Anyway, Pascal-Dawson is an attractive fight on basically every level, assuming Dawson and promoter Gary Shaw understand they have to go to Quebec for it to be worthwhile. Dawson's last three headlining fights (two with Antonio Tarver in Las Vegas, one with Glen Johnson in his home state of Connecticut) have been abysmal live draws, while Pascal has become quite a star at the gate in Quebec.
Simply put, Dawson has no fanbase. Pascal has a big one. Everyone makes the most money in Quebec.
Pascal is currently on the mend following successful shoulder surgery, having fought with the injury for years before it became too much in his valiant rematch win over Adrian Diaconu to close 2009. Dawson hasn't fought since his dominant but deadly dull rematch win over Johnson.
Pascal-Dawson would also mean that Dawson, 27, would be picking on someone his own age for the first time in quite a while. With four straight fights against either Tarver and Johnson (both now 41 years old) and wins over aging veterans before that, Dawson really hasn't faced anyone his own age during the meaningful portion of his career.
It really is enough to wonder if maybe he doesn't look quite so fast if faced with someone who actually has some handspeed left. What's the last quick fighter he faced? Has he ever faced someone you'd describe as being "quick" when he fought them?
I do wonder if Pascal will try to squeeze in a tune-up fight between now and June, which is entirely possible. Not a major challenge, just a fight where he can make sure the shoulder's good before facing arguably the best light heavyweight in the sport.
7 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
So does this mean that Hopkins-Dawson is officially dead then? That being said, I am pretty excited about this fight taking place.
Hopkins-Dawson was really only alive because of people who are neither Hopkins nor Dawson.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Jan 10, 2010 7:04 PM EST up reply actions
Thought Dawson still wanted it, where Hopkins literally defined what ducking was in his dealings with Dawson.
by Waldo Rastel on Jan 10, 2010 7:27 PM EST up reply actions
Pretty much
It’s excusable in a way, but he’s pretty blatantly ducked Dawson.
As for the ‘own age’ thing, he fought the one prime light heavyweight with a smidgen of name recognition in Adamek. He was going to fight Diaconu, but Diaconu pulled out with an injury a couple weeks before the fight. Other than that, there really hasn’t been anyone young or prime in the weight class to fight.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Well “own age” is a distant second for intrigue here to the speed thing, plus I just said it’s been “quite a while” since he fought someone his own age, which is true. It’s been years. Years!!!
Adamek was never particularly quick and Tarver and Johnson sure as hell weren’t. Then what is there? Epi Mendoza? I think Dawson has a much harder time with Pascal than a lot of people will expect, but then I don’t think Dawson is quite the phenom some make him out to be.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Jan 10, 2010 8:23 PM EST up reply actions
Dawson
I like Dawson for the strange reason of he’s not really a boxer. He’s more of a athlete who happens to be good at boxing. For that reason I really don’t think the speed of Pascal will really be an issue. That being said I really want Chad to clear out Pascal and Cloud, then move on to another weight class cause there ain’t much left at 175
by Waldo Rastel on Jan 10, 2010 8:33 PM EST up reply actions
I still think Dawson will dominate him
Pascal had problems with Branco when he boxed from the outside, just the scores looked lopsided because he had last-second knockdowns in rounds he was otherwise losing three times. Dawson’s biggest achilles heel is that he’s afraid to throw punches when someone has him under pressure, but I just don’t think Pascal’s the type of fighter that could take advantage of that, and I think Diaconu and Cloud are probably too small to be able to take advantage of it either.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
