Ismayl " The Black Russian" Sillakh

I'm not as sure as you but its all a possibility, except for Dawson being a "sure victory for him". Lets not forget that Dawson only adopted that style after he was trained by Eddie Muhammad. Against Adamek, Dawson controlled everything and didn't have to wait. He'll know that wouldn't work against someone as technically solid and dangerous as Sillakh. He has it in him, its just weather or not Emanuel can pull it back out. Skill wise, hes as or even more technically solid as Sillakh. That's true, it was something new he adopted. The thing about dawson though, although you're right - he didn't 'wait' and admire his work a few years ago, his mentality was still the same. He definitely lacks that killer instinct and I feel like that's one of the reasons he won't " go after " his man. I really think the style is just wrong, and dawson may be the for sure win on that list. I expect TBR to go teh distance though in this division and make it to the top. I've never thought so highly of a prospect before. I'm not a huge fan but as a realist and student of the game - I do think he makes it to the very top and will be crowned king someday if he keeps up the hard work and doesn't let the inevitable fame destroy him. Speaking of which, I think dawsons fame has gotten to his head too. It almost shows in the ring. Only fighting like twice a year isn't doing him any favors either. I also don't think Eman the guy to bring out the ability dawson once showed. If anything, he's the type of trainer to approve of Dawsons low output and work admiration (he admires his work a bit too much now).

He seems legit. But he seems to be avoided by the top dogs at 175lb. Him vs Nathan Clevrly would be a great fight.

He's already a massive threat. He beats cleverly, i won't even argue that. He will move non stop and work off his jab and counter punching ability to best cloud. he is all wrong for cloud - if not him in particular, then his style definitely. He'd approach the cloud fight much like he did against despaigne. That's a Majority decision. The Dawson fight is another fight he can win, and probably easiar than all of the other fights. Employing a similar tactic to that of Pascal (he moves just as much) But with longer range and better defense. Dawson doesn't like movers. Dawson likes dictating the pace and throwing whenever he wants. He likes his opponent directly infront of him and he doesn't like to have to throw while moving foward. Hopkins poses the most trouble for him and anyone else in the division for 1 reason in particular - his tactics. Hopkins inside game (the clinch in particular, things he does in there) and his dirty tricks here and there really get inside a young fighters head, he beats a lot of guys mentally today. Just from watching TBR you can see what type of challenge he poses to everyone if you break him down. You can also get a feel for what gives him the most trouble. Oddly enough, I think Dawson is a for sure victory for him - and he's regarded as the top of the division by many. Dawson doesn't throw long enough combos to keep TBR guessing and he has proven against Pascal to have no answers for constant movement. Because Pascal was the only opponent to do that to him, I doubt they've done anything to correct the issue either and he's more than likely WORSE at handling it now with Emanual because Emanual focuses solely on the jab and 2 punches at a time - something Dawson needed to get OUT OF at this stage of the game. I think Dawson/Hopkins will answer a lot of questions about Dawson and how he handles certain things post-pascal. I'm not as sure as you but its all a possibility, except for Dawson being a "sure victory for him". Lets not forget that Dawson only adopted that style after he was trained by Eddie Muhammad. Against Adamek, Dawson controlled everything and didn't have to wait. He'll know that wouldn't work against someone as technically solid and dangerous as Sillakh. He has it in him, its just weather or not Emanuel can pull it back out. Skill wise, hes as or even more technically solid as Sillakh.

He could very well beat all of them. He needs another step up fight or two though to accurately tell. But from what I've seen, he's the truth. Agreed. And thus my avy and title.

If he keeps progressing, he looks like he could be a massive threat to anyone at light heavy. How do you think he does against the top dogs (ie Pascal, Cloud, Dawson, Hopkins, Cleverly). He's already a massive threat. He beats cleverly, i won't even argue that. He will move non stop and work off his jab and counter punching ability to best cloud. he is all wrong for cloud - if not him in particular, then his style definitely. He'd approach the cloud fight much like he did against despaigne. That's a Majority decision. The Dawson fight is another fight he can win, and probably easiar than all of the other fights. Employing a similar tactic to that of Pascal (he moves just as much) But with longer range and better defense. Dawson doesn't like movers. Dawson likes dictating the pace and throwing whenever he wants. He likes his opponent directly infront of him and he doesn't like to have to throw while moving foward. Hopkins poses the most trouble for him and anyone else in the division for 1 reason in particular - his tactics. Hopkins inside game (the clinch in particular, things he does in there) and his dirty tricks here and there really get inside a young fighters head, he beats a lot of guys mentally today. Just from watching TBR you can see what type of challenge he poses to everyone if you break him down. You can also get a feel for what gives him the most trouble. Oddly enough, I think Dawson is a for sure victory for him - and he's regarded as the top of the division by many. Dawson doesn't throw long enough combos to keep TBR guessing and he has proven against Pascal to have no answers for constant movement. Because Pascal was the only opponent to do that to him, I doubt they've done anything to correct the issue either and he's more than likely WORSE at handling it now with Emanual because Emanual focuses solely on the jab and 2 punches at a time - something Dawson needed to get OUT OF at this stage of the game. I think Dawson/Hopkins will answer a lot of questions about Dawson and how he handles certain things post-pascal.