Did Chad Dawson's weight-jumping forever diminish his punch resistance?

[F!x]

Was the Stevenson KO a sign of things to come for Dawson? Did going down to 168 then coming back up to 175 effect Dawson's ability to take punches for the rest of his career? Or is it just that Stevenson is so much better than Dawson that he would have knocked out Dawson in the same way even if Dawson hadn't been weight-jumping?

[DARKSEID]

Not as much Adonis Stevenson's monster left hook diminished it.

[dan_cov]

Dawson has always had a questionable chin I'm not sure why people deny it.

It was questionable years before he fought Ward. That is the reason he fights so negatively, hes packing glass!

[Ray Corso]

None of the above, Chad simply lost his dedication to his job!!! He discounts others by blaming everyone but himself for his inability to compete in a way thats true to himself. He's forgotten his identity in the ring and thinks him showing up is enough to get over!! Simply NOT a hungry fighter anymore!
Ray.

[Earl-Hickey]

He had no business getting hit by that punch in all honesty, there's always been a touch of the Zab Judahs about Dawson, he can look as good or bad as anyone depending what side of bed he gets out of.

All the skills but it just doesn't seem to come together in the ring

[#1Assassin]

Was the Stevenson KO a sign of things to come for Dawson? Did going down to 168 then coming back up to 175 effect Dawson's ability to take punches for the rest of his career? Or is it just that Stevenson is so much better than Dawson that he would have knocked out Dawson in the same way even if Dawson hadn't been weight-jumping?

Neither.

Stevenson is just that big a puncher, someone who can hurt and/or finish just about anyone with one good shot. Chad got caught cold on top of it, against a guy like stevenson theres no coming back from that.

That doesnt mean dawson cant beat him or isnt the better fighter though. We didnt know if stevenson was on dawsons level going in but we all knew he had a punchers chance. He cashed in on it, thats boxing. Chad might still be a better fighter.

If he is more patient in a rematch he could very well figure adonis out, neutralize him and outbox him to a decision or even a late stoppage. We all knew thats what he needed to do the first time but he got caught so early its impossible to tell if he is capable of pulling it off or not. He never got into the fight.

We didnt learn anything from the first fight that we didnt already know except maybe chad still has a tendency to overlook oponents. Not in terms of preparation but when it comes to showing them the proper respect in the ring.

[Doctor_Tenma]

Dawson has always had a questionable chin I'm not sure why people deny it.

It was questionable years before he fought Ward. That is the reason he fights so negatively, hes packing glass!

Same here man, that's what I've been dying to know!

It's fuckin' ridiculous if you ask me.

[Porter's Dad]

He only went up/down in weight once, and that was 7 pounds. At least Roy was coming down from HW to LW.

The thing that people are not recognising is that that was a devastating punch. Just the mere sound of it was stunning - reminded Lennox against Rahman. Absolutely no version of Dawson takes that punch well.

What a better version of Dawson does is be more alert to it. Adonis had already tried that same punch twice and just missed. Normally, a big KO shocks me. When I saw Adonis just miss and the way Chad was fighting, I felt it was coming. It did't surprise me.

But again, I will say - that was an amazing punch. That's kinda been lost in the discussions which have centred on Dawson's failings and wasted talent.

[boliodogs]

Did coming in too light for one fight and getting koed give him a weak chin for the rest of his fighting career? I voted no. For all I know Ward might have KOed him if the fight was at 175. This cracked chin that I read about so much on this board is a theory without much fact to back it up. Sometimes when a fighter takes a bad beating like the one Trinidad gave to Mayorga and Vargas they never seem to take a punch as good as they did before the beating. I don't know if it is all physical or part mental. Other fighters get brutally KOed but seem to take a punch just as well in their future fights. They said Oscar was knocked down in his fights at 130 because he was weigh drained. If he was weight drained it did him no harm because he was well known to take a good punch the rest of his career. Mosley jumps from 154 to 147 all the time and his chin is always solid.Hatton used to gain 50 pounds between fights and he had a good chin. Bradley said he gained about 40 pounds that he had to take off for his last fight and while he was hurt he went the distance. There just is not much evidence that losing weight turns a fighter's chin to permanent glass.

[Light_Speed]

I think it's a combination of things : dehydrating himself to make 168, getting KO'd by Miranda in sparring and then getting beat up by Ward. All those things eroded his punch resistance AND Stevenson is a very big puncher.

Dawson has always had a questionable chin I'm not sure why people deny it.

It was questionable years before he fought Ward. That is the reason he fights so negatively, hes packing glass!

Watch the first Johnson fight, he took massive shots and didn't look really hurt at any point.

He had no business getting hit by that punch

Agreed, everybody and their mother knew that Stevenson is a 1-2 fighter, he throws that combination all the time, Dawson had to have known that coming in if he watched any tape. I'm shocked he didn't duck immediately after Stevenson threw the jab, he really has lackluster defense and reflexes. I guess that's why he struggled with every explosive fighter he faced and only looked good against old men.