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Chad Dawson Has A Message For His Rivals
Following Chad Dawson's 12-round destruction of Antonio Tarver last October, there wasn't much interest in seeing a rematch. However, in the wacky world of professional boxing things like fan interest and common sense don't always come into play. Tarver excercised his rematch clause and there was nothing Dawson could do to avoid the fight.
Plus, Dawson, one of boxing's brightest young stars, will gladly remind you that he never ducks anyone.
FanHouse spoke to Dawson about being forced to fight Tarver again this Saturday night in his HBO debut and his thoughts on Bernard Hopkins' refusal to fight him. The interview is after the jump.
Ariel Helwani: You were scheduled to face Antonio Tarver in March, but pulled out due to a hand injury. How is your hand feeling now?
Chad Dawson: The hand is feeling excellent. It's 100%.
How disappointed were you to hear that Tarver chose to cash in on his rematch clause after you defeated him so decisively in October?
I'm not so much disappointed ... I guess he thinks he deserves a rematch even though I don't think he deserves a rematch and a lot of people don't think he deserves a rematch - it's not just me. But we gotta do what we gotta do. He had the rematch clause, so I will go ahead and get that out of the way so I can move on with my career. I would rather go ahead and get it out of the way now then to keep that rematch clause from hanging over my head, knowing that he can pop up at any given time saying he wants a rematch.
Was it hard for you to get mentally focused for this fight since you dominated him for 12 rounds in your first meeting?
No, this is what I do. I love training; I love being in the gym; I love working hard; I love getting better and better. So, it was no problem for me to get up for this fight. I love to go in the ring and do what I do best and that is fight. In this fight, it's going to be worse off for him because he just hit 40 and I am 26 years old and in the best shape of my life. I train hard for every fight. It doesn't matter if I beat him so easily the first fight; I'm going to beat him worse in this fight.
Tarver has performed very well in high-profile rematches against the likes of Roy Jones Jr. and Glen Johnson. With that in mind, do you think he will be tougher to defeat this time around?
Nah. I know he's going to try and press the fight a little more than he did the last fight, but he's 40 years old. How much better can he get? I'm going into this fight like we just finished off the last round, you know, I dropped him in the 12th round of the last fight and I am going into this fight like it's the 13th round. I am going in to finish the job.
If you beat Tarver on Saturday, do you think he should retire from boxing?
Yes. When I beat him on Saturday, he should retire. I don't know if he's going to retire; it's up to him. But I plan on definitely ending his career on Saturday night.
Is it a big deal for you to be fighting on HBO for the first time?
I have been striving for this for years, man. It's every fighter's dream to get a big fight on HBO and I finally got my opportunity to debut on HBO. I want to go in and impress everybody and show everybody that HBO is where I belong. I belong to fight where the best fighters in the world fight.
There is a lot of talk about who you will face after this fight. If you had the power to choose, who would you pick to fight?
Definitely Bernard Hopkins. I would say Joe Calzaghe but he retired. The next best thing is Bernard Hopkins. I think I definitely deserve a shot at Bernard Hopkins. Will I get that shot? Who knows. If I can't get that, I have a mandatory (title defense) that I have to get out of the way, so I will go and do that. Or I will go down to 168 (pounds) and get a title shot down there.
Bernard Hopkins has said that the reason he refuses to fight you is because nobody knows who you are and he can't make enough money fighting you. What do you make of that?
I'll put myself in his shoes: He's 44 years old and I'm 26 years old. I haven't even reached my prime yet. If you look at the style matchup, why would he want to get in the ring with a guy like me who's young, fast and strong? I look at it like that. Should he fight me? Yes, I think he should. He's around No.3 on the pound-for-pound list and I'm not even on the pound-for-pound list. I want to make the pound-for-pound list and if he's the guy that's blocking me, I definitely feel like I have to knock him off.
Do you think Dawson vs. Hopkins will ever happen?
I don't know, because like you said, he's all about the money. He made the statement saying, 'Nobody knows who Chad Dawson is.' Well, if nobody knows who Chad Dawson is, why is everybody pushing the fight? Why is HBO pushing the fight? If nobody knows who I am then why are you ducking me? I think he doesn't want to get in the ring and get embarrassed.
Boxing is about the best fighting the best. Right now, me and Bernard Hopkins are the best light heavyweights in the world, so why not fight to see who is the best? I'll tell you right now that I'm the best and I know I am the best; he'll tell you that he thinks he's the best. So, why not fight to see who's the best? But that's not happening right now. That's why boxing is so messed up today, because the best don't fight the best.
Do you think Joe Calzaghe will ever come out of retirement to fight you?
From what I heard, he's definitely retired and not coming back. If he does come back and challenges me, that would be very big. But right now, my main focus is getting rid of Tarver, and then hopefully after this I will get that shot at Bernard.
Tavoris Cloud recently wrote an open letter to you saying that it's time for you to defend your IBF light heavyweight title against him. He seemed to imply that you were ducking him. Did you see that?
(Laughs). Yeah. How am I ducking him? I only had the title for about five, six months? I fought Tarver and beat him six months ago and Tarver had the rematch clause, so how am I ducking him? Nobody even knows who this guy is. Look at his resume; who has he fought? He's got a bunch of wins on his record and they are against nobodies. I have never ducked anybody in my life. Tavoris Cloud? C'mon. I just won the IBF title six months ago.
Are you prepared to face him after this fight against Tarver, even though as you mentioned, he isn't the biggest name out there?
Yeah, I'm prepared to face him. I'm confident in my ability and my skill and I know what I can do in the ring. If he wants to go ahead and lose that zero on his record, then let him come over and let's do it. I'm not ducking anybody; I've never ducked anybody a day in my life. I'm willing to fight anybody you put in front of me. I don't care; it doesn't matter to me. Believe me, Chad Dawson never ducks anybody.
Are you seriously considering dropping down to 168 pounds?
Yes, very much so. Like I said, if I can't get the big fight at light heavyweight, then (I will go) to 168. It's a live weight class, so why not go down there and see if I can make some noise down there?
While he was still retired, Floyd Mayweather Jr. called you the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. What did you make of that?
Oh, man, that's a privilege. Just for him to say something like that is a big confidence booster for me. Believe it or not, Floyd Mayweather is my favorite fighter. I love watching him fight; I love everything about him. I don't know him personally and some people say he's an a**hole, but I just love everything he does in the ring.
Plus, Dawson, one of boxing's brightest young stars, will gladly remind you that he never ducks anyone.
FanHouse spoke to Dawson about being forced to fight Tarver again this Saturday night in his HBO debut and his thoughts on Bernard Hopkins' refusal to fight him. The interview is after the jump.
Ariel Helwani: You were scheduled to face Antonio Tarver in March, but pulled out due to a hand injury. How is your hand feeling now?
Chad Dawson: The hand is feeling excellent. It's 100%.
How disappointed were you to hear that Tarver chose to cash in on his rematch clause after you defeated him so decisively in October?
I'm not so much disappointed ... I guess he thinks he deserves a rematch even though I don't think he deserves a rematch and a lot of people don't think he deserves a rematch - it's not just me. But we gotta do what we gotta do. He had the rematch clause, so I will go ahead and get that out of the way so I can move on with my career. I would rather go ahead and get it out of the way now then to keep that rematch clause from hanging over my head, knowing that he can pop up at any given time saying he wants a rematch.
Was it hard for you to get mentally focused for this fight since you dominated him for 12 rounds in your first meeting?
No, this is what I do. I love training; I love being in the gym; I love working hard; I love getting better and better. So, it was no problem for me to get up for this fight. I love to go in the ring and do what I do best and that is fight. In this fight, it's going to be worse off for him because he just hit 40 and I am 26 years old and in the best shape of my life. I train hard for every fight. It doesn't matter if I beat him so easily the first fight; I'm going to beat him worse in this fight.
Tarver has performed very well in high-profile rematches against the likes of Roy Jones Jr. and Glen Johnson. With that in mind, do you think he will be tougher to defeat this time around?
Nah. I know he's going to try and press the fight a little more than he did the last fight, but he's 40 years old. How much better can he get? I'm going into this fight like we just finished off the last round, you know, I dropped him in the 12th round of the last fight and I am going into this fight like it's the 13th round. I am going in to finish the job.
If you beat Tarver on Saturday, do you think he should retire from boxing?
Yes. When I beat him on Saturday, he should retire. I don't know if he's going to retire; it's up to him. But I plan on definitely ending his career on Saturday night.
Is it a big deal for you to be fighting on HBO for the first time?
I have been striving for this for years, man. It's every fighter's dream to get a big fight on HBO and I finally got my opportunity to debut on HBO. I want to go in and impress everybody and show everybody that HBO is where I belong. I belong to fight where the best fighters in the world fight.
There is a lot of talk about who you will face after this fight. If you had the power to choose, who would you pick to fight?
Definitely Bernard Hopkins. I would say Joe Calzaghe but he retired. The next best thing is Bernard Hopkins. I think I definitely deserve a shot at Bernard Hopkins. Will I get that shot? Who knows. If I can't get that, I have a mandatory (title defense) that I have to get out of the way, so I will go and do that. Or I will go down to 168 (pounds) and get a title shot down there.
Bernard Hopkins has said that the reason he refuses to fight you is because nobody knows who you are and he can't make enough money fighting you. What do you make of that?
I'll put myself in his shoes: He's 44 years old and I'm 26 years old. I haven't even reached my prime yet. If you look at the style matchup, why would he want to get in the ring with a guy like me who's young, fast and strong? I look at it like that. Should he fight me? Yes, I think he should. He's around No.3 on the pound-for-pound list and I'm not even on the pound-for-pound list. I want to make the pound-for-pound list and if he's the guy that's blocking me, I definitely feel like I have to knock him off.
Do you think Dawson vs. Hopkins will ever happen?
I don't know, because like you said, he's all about the money. He made the statement saying, 'Nobody knows who Chad Dawson is.' Well, if nobody knows who Chad Dawson is, why is everybody pushing the fight? Why is HBO pushing the fight? If nobody knows who I am then why are you ducking me? I think he doesn't want to get in the ring and get embarrassed.
Boxing is about the best fighting the best. Right now, me and Bernard Hopkins are the best light heavyweights in the world, so why not fight to see who is the best? I'll tell you right now that I'm the best and I know I am the best; he'll tell you that he thinks he's the best. So, why not fight to see who's the best? But that's not happening right now. That's why boxing is so messed up today, because the best don't fight the best.
Do you think Joe Calzaghe will ever come out of retirement to fight you?
From what I heard, he's definitely retired and not coming back. If he does come back and challenges me, that would be very big. But right now, my main focus is getting rid of Tarver, and then hopefully after this I will get that shot at Bernard.
Tavoris Cloud recently wrote an open letter to you saying that it's time for you to defend your IBF light heavyweight title against him. He seemed to imply that you were ducking him. Did you see that?
(Laughs). Yeah. How am I ducking him? I only had the title for about five, six months? I fought Tarver and beat him six months ago and Tarver had the rematch clause, so how am I ducking him? Nobody even knows who this guy is. Look at his resume; who has he fought? He's got a bunch of wins on his record and they are against nobodies. I have never ducked anybody in my life. Tavoris Cloud? C'mon. I just won the IBF title six months ago.
Are you prepared to face him after this fight against Tarver, even though as you mentioned, he isn't the biggest name out there?
Yeah, I'm prepared to face him. I'm confident in my ability and my skill and I know what I can do in the ring. If he wants to go ahead and lose that zero on his record, then let him come over and let's do it. I'm not ducking anybody; I've never ducked anybody a day in my life. I'm willing to fight anybody you put in front of me. I don't care; it doesn't matter to me. Believe me, Chad Dawson never ducks anybody.
Are you seriously considering dropping down to 168 pounds?
Yes, very much so. Like I said, if I can't get the big fight at light heavyweight, then (I will go) to 168. It's a live weight class, so why not go down there and see if I can make some noise down there?
While he was still retired, Floyd Mayweather Jr. called you the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. What did you make of that?
Oh, man, that's a privilege. Just for him to say something like that is a big confidence booster for me. Believe it or not, Floyd Mayweather is my favorite fighter. I love watching him fight; I love everything about him. I don't know him personally and some people say he's an a**hole, but I just love everything he does in the ring.
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