By Cliff Rold

Sometimes it is a good thing fights are not fought on paper.  Sometimes, they were better when they were there.

A few weeks ago, Juan Manuel Lopez took on Rogers Mtagwa in a bout which looked like a relatively sure thing.  Lopez survived a fight of the year candidate.

This past weekend, David Haye-Nicolay Valuev and Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson II looked like intriguing contests worth getting excited about.  In the former, the ultimate victor controlled his natural aggression, followed the script of the men who had been most successful against the Russian giant in the past, and took a step forward in the lucrative Heavyweight race.

In the latter, the winner just did everything right for most of the evening, nullifying the chance for a repeat classic and proving that sometimes being too good on a given night doesn’t make good theatre for fans.

Both men, new WBA Heavyweight titlist David Haye (23-1, 22 KO) and leading Light Heavyweight Chad Dawson (29-0, 17 KO), won a pair of decisions in separate nations, no matter the aesthetics, and would be safe in arguing that it takes two to tango.

Let’s go to the report cards. 

Haye-Valuev Grades
Pre: Speed – Haye A+; Valuev C/Post: Same
Pre: Power – Haye B+; Valuev B/Post: A-; B-
Pre: Defense – Haye B-; Valuev B-/Post: B+; C
Pre: Intangibles – Haye B; Valuev B/Post: B; B

For a full recap of the fight, click on: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=23321

Disappointment with this contest comes in two forms.  As a singular fight, it was just flat out dull.  Unless one was going full homer for either guy, Haye and Valuev (50-2, 34 KO) just did not mix well.  There was also the anticipation of violence which is expected in a Haye fight.  He usually goes balls out but in this fight chose the smart path.

In picking Valuev to win last week, this scribe figured it would be Haye’s aggression which got him in trouble.  Instead, to some degree, he should be commended for his performance.  Rushing headlong into a wall is more fun to watch sometimes but not too productive.  Haye clearly saw, in Ruslan Chagaev and Evander Holyfield’s previous performances against Valuev, a blueprint for victory.  It wasn’t pretty, and it made a lot of his big talk look small as he used footwork and only the rarest of offensive bursts, but it worked.  If, as Haye claimed after the fight, he was hampered by a hand injury, then he made the most with the fists he had.

Valuev deserves some credit for doing what he knows how to do.  He stalks, he jabs, and he hopes to club his man at some point.  He landed some of his jabs, and even a few scraping power shots.  Haye took them well and utilized good head movement in making Valuev miss or in mitigating harm.  There were some occasions where Valuev was tagged with monster shots and just manned through them.  In the twelfth, he was all but out on his feet and survived. 

The twelfth round stagger was the highlight of the night and the one moment which saved the contest from being a complete bust.  Those few seconds of drama were more than could be found in Wladimir Klitschko’s unification wins over Chagaev and Sultan Ibragimov in the last couple years.  It was hard not to notice, when he did let his hands go, just how much speed and coordinated athleticism Haye brings to the Heavyweight division.  And his power has clearly come up the scale.  Valuev has a tested chin and didn’t take a world of punishment.  It was one shot that almost did the Russian and against a more reasonably sized man Haye may only be beginning to add to the British boxing highlight reel.

Dawson-Johnson II Grades
Speed - Dawson A; Johnson B/Post: Same
Power – Dawson B; Johnson B+/Post: Same
Defense – Dawson B+; Johnson B/Post: A; B
Intangibles – Dawson A; Johnson A/Post: A; B+

Dawson, like Haye, followed the blueprint for success and in doing so prevented a fight from breaking out.  Unlike Haye, he moved his hands most of the night and can be faulted only for making Johnson (49-13-2, 33 KO) look as ordinary as his record.

Johnson is anything but ordinary.  So is Dawson.  He won so easy on Saturday that it will be fair to ask if Johnson, at 40, is starting to get old.  However, this win wasn’t much different than Antonio Tarver’s rematch nod over Johnson.  The taller southpaws in both cases simply corrected mistakes from the first bout and used the extra dimensions Johnsons doesn’t have to win clearly.

It wasn’t just a lack of dimensions which hurt Johnson.  He seemed not to realize he was losing near the midway point and rarely fought more than a single round with the urgency he had the first time.  He never `really went for broke after campaigning hard for the rematch with Dawson for over a year.

Dawson could be argued as having pitched a shutout and will find something interesting in the fight film.  His best moments were those where his footwork was subtle, his jab hard, and the action at ring center.  When Dawson elected to move, he still controlled most of the action but it gave Johnson chances.  It took Pernell Whitaker time to realize he really could stand within inches of a foe and just beat them without legging it out. Dawson is finding that out and has more mustard on his shots.

There are questions about Dawson’s power, with only two stoppages in his last five fights, but those questions might be silly.  Five of his last seven have been against Tarver, Johnson, and Adamek.  All of these men have proven, tested beards and the sort of experience which makes knockouts hard to come by.     

Looking Ahead

Following the bout, Dawson called out Bernard Hopkins as his most desired fight.  Hopkins would give him a chance to clear out the best of his division’s elder statesmen and bring him his biggest scalp yet.

It also could be a terribly bore as a contest (though, again, only on paper).  He captured the WBC’s interim title label at Light Heavyweight on Saturday.  The WBC regular title is about to be resolved between Jean Pascal and Adrian Diaconu a second time; either would provide a more guaranteed thrill than Hopkins.

What Dawson really needs though is exposure…for IBF titlist Tavoris Cloud.  If Dawson is going to play master boxer, he needs someone who wants to play the role of pressure threat to bring out the best fight in him.  Cloud (20-0, 18 KO) fights with fire, with power, and is enough of a threat that Dawson has already given up one belt to avoid Cloud as a mandatory.  Team Dawson claimed Cloud was simply not known enough to make the fight.  They were partly correct, but how many fighters have ever given up belts for mandatories more on the line of, say, Ricky Frazier. 

Let the business talk center on Hopkins.  The fight talk should be on Cloud.  By the end of next year, it could emerge as one of the best fights in the sport.  It probably already is.  Cloud might wisely look for a rebounding Johnson or Tarver to build his case.

At Heavyweight, as noted in the pre-fight report card, Haye’s win makes things more interesting.  The Heavyweight’s have a personality worth following for the first time in years.  As dreadful as the Valuev fight was, Haye has a history of good fights and it’s hard to imagine scraps against the likes of Alexander Povetkin or Chris Arreola being anything less than electric.  The Valuev fight raises a doubt that he’d go after Wladimir Klitschko the way many thought he would, but that fight still sells out a soccer stadium.

For now, he has John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO) looming as a mandatory.  The former WBA titlist won a walkover on Haye’s undercard and is still as reviled a Heavyweight as ever crossed a TV screen.  Where one dull night was the exception for Haye, excitement was the exception for Ruiz until recent years where he began to throw more and maul less.  He’ll give Haye a real test but, if Haye can knock Ruiz out, he’ll also give him an instant chance to paper over any lingering sentiment from Saturday.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com