By Ryan Burton

BoxingScene.com recently received an invitation to attend one of Chad Dawson's private sparring sessions as he prepares for his September 8th showdown against WBC/WBA super middleweight king Andre Ward, which takes place at the Oracle in Oakland, California.  Dawson has been training at the Long Life Fit club in southeast Las Vegas under the watchful eye of his trainer John "The Ice Man" Scully.

The former title challenger reunited with Dawson prior to his first fight against Bernard Hopkins which ended in a no-contest.  Scully had previously trained Dawson and said that he doesn't have to make many changes to a fighter as talented as Dawson.

"Chad is the type of guy to me like a Roy Jones, a Floyd Mayweather or a young Ali and you leave them alone. You make the other guy adjust to them. That is the basis of my training with Chad. You tweak little things here and there but he knows what to do in the ring," Scully stated.

Scully knows that Ward will be a tough test for his fighter and praised the Oakland, Calif. native for his dominating run through the Super Six tournament.  He did however say that Ward has yet to face an opponent as dynamic as Dawson. He feels that Dawson will dictate the fight and he isn't sure if Ward will be able to adapt to his fighter's style.

"Ward is a good fighter. It remains to be seen (if he can adjust).  He has beaten a lot of good fighters but they were a certain style. I am not taking anything away from him. I know he is a good fighter but they had to adjust to him.  He didn't have to make any adjustments so we will see," Scully told BoxingScene.

Dawson has fought a total of 14 rounds against future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins when you include the two rounds they fought in their abbreviated first fight.  Many fans and insiders alike feel that Ward's style is similar to Hopkins. Scully points out that not only has Dawson had success against Hopkins, he has had success against other high caliber opponents with completely different styles.

"There is a dispute. I think most people think there are similarities between the two guys (Ward and Hopkins).  Some people say no but I think there are reasons for that.  Obviously they have a similar game plan and a similar way about them but Chad has dealt with that.  Chad has dealt with a lot of different styles.  Tarver was a tall southpaw.  You had Glen Johnson and Adamek and again they were forced to adjust to him," Scully concluded.

Ward vs. Dawson will be televised on HBO Championship Boxing.

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