A challenge: DEFEND THE INDEFENSIBLE

Over in one of the articles here, I've gone on to defend Chad Dawson as not being completely boring and awful. It is one thing to easily defend and write about fighters who are great action stars, even if they are not good. Just look at all the writing over the years fauning over Arturo Gatti. But to defend a fighter who is perceived as mediocre or boring and to argue against that? Well, now we're talking. My challenge to anyone: Write a defense of someone who you think the general public has the wrong idea about. Maybe you think Greg Page really was Ali reincarnated and he got screwed by Don King. Maybe you think John Ruiz got a bad rap because the guys he fought just couldn't infight. Convince me and others and make yourself feel superior to your fellow man.

As an example, A DEFENSE OF CHAD DAWSON:

-Okay, look, Chad can't punch because he's not really a light heavyweight. That's the truth. He turned pro at 162 and fought a number of times as a middleweight. He moved up to 175 because honestly, no one at the time wanted to give him the time of day. He's still at 175 because of boxing politics and opportunity. 168 is full of names now, but 175 gives him the best shot at stardom and world titles at this very moment.

-Dawson hasn't ducked anyone. Oh sure, "Tavoris Cloud". How often does Cloud fight? He's fought 4 times in the last 3 years thanks to Don King, and probably won't fight anyone worth a damn for a few more months either. Cloud hardly looked electric against a Glen Johnson that Dawson beat (twice) including a wide decision win. Meanwhile, Dawson has fought the following:

-Antonio Tarver (twice). Oh, its easy to crack on Tarver as being a washed up former champ. Except, you know, that he's won fights at heavyweight and cruiserweight since. He also entered the fight with Dawson off a domination of Clinton Woods, one of his best career wins. No small feat, that. Oh, were they super enthralling action fights? Well, when were these past Antonio Tarver all action fights?

-Glen Johnson (twice): The Road Warrior gave as good as he got in the first barnburning fight, and then as is often the case when Glen faces elite competition twice, he got decisioned easily by a guy who adjusted to the singluar style Glen offers. What was he supposed to do? Stand and trade again?

-Tomasz Adamek: You might have heard of this guy. Became the top cruiserweight in the entire world. Then he became a top 5 heavyweight. Chad Dawson, an undersized light heavyweight, took this guy on and won a wide decision. The only other guy to beat Adamek is named Klitschko. Also, did anyone fall asleep seeing Adamek pursue Dawson, especially in some exciting late rounds?

Yeah, there's some not-so-great fights he took in his career. Jesus Ruiz and Epifanio Mendoza were brought in purely to kill time and give him easy pay days. But what about going up against Eric Harding when Harding was still relevant? Or taking on Adrian Diancou just to get back in the win column (this is a legit top 10 guy!)? He may have been first to send Carl Daniels onto becoming a tomato can, but he won in style and he was the first to do it. He also did a better job with Ian Garner than either Arthur Abraham or Golovkin. And he was hardly boring against Mendoza, Ruiz, Garner, or other guys who actually refused to engage him. He may not have had the leverage or the strength to take them out early, but he eventually did.

Now, yes, he didn't put forth the effort needed to beat Pascal. Maybe its because Pascal is actually a very good fighter? Maybe even a better fighter than Dawson? And were you authentically bored by Pascal/Dawson? I can see disappointed in the lack of perceived effort, but not bored. It was a close competitive fight and Dawson was coming on very strong in the late rounds.

In summation: Dawson is not an evil. Perhaps he's not made for exciting fights with Bernard Hopkins, but NO ONE is made for exciting fights with Bernard Hopkins. If there were a bunch of people who were, Larry Merchant would never have spent a decade railing on the guy for being boring. Dawson may not be a pound for pound talent, and he's not promoted by the best, but he's not necessarily a "boring" fighter.