UFC Fight Pass adds CES Boxing to streaming platform, Chad Dawson to headline first card

UFC Fight Pass have added another boxing partner to their lineup, as CES Boxing has reached a three-event deal with the streaming platform for shows that will air on Oct. 11, Nov. 23, and Dec. 7.

The first event will feature the return of Chad Dawson, the former light heavyweight champion whose career has never really recovered from a bold move down to super middleweight in 2012, where he challenged Andre Ward was was beaten down and and dominated, then stopped in the 10th.

Dawson, now 37, lost his next fight via first round knockout to Adonis Stevenson, then was out of action for a year. In Oct. 2014 he was upset by Tommy Karpency, and in Mar. 2017 he was stopped in the 10th and final round by Andrzej Fonfara. After losing to Fonfara, Dawson was out of action for over two years, returning on Jun. 29 of this year to win a decision over club fighter Quinton Rankin.

Dawson will be facing 37-year-old Denis Grachev, who once flirted with being a real contender in boxing. He ended the prospect rise and hype behind Ismayl Sillah in 2012, then lost a competitive decision to Lucian Bute that same year. He was also the man to finally defeat Zsolt Erdei, who was 33-0 at the time, in 2013.

But it went downhill for Grachev after that. He lost four straight to Edwin Rodriguez, Isaac Chilemba, Ryno Liebenberg, and Thomas Oosthuizen in 2013-14, and he hasn’t won a fight outside of Mexico since 2013, with five of those six victories coming over pure no-hopers in Tijuana rings. Grachev last fought on Aug. 17, losing a wide decision to Charles Foster on a Murphys Boxing card, which also streamed on Fight Pass.

Junior middleweight Jimmy Williams will face Jose Medina, and we’ll also see welterweight Anthony Velazquez, lightweight Sharad Collier, and featherweight Nathan Martinez in action on the Oct. 11 show.

The Nov. 23 and Dec. 7 CES cards aren’t quite as together yet as the Oct. 11 date, but are coming along.