Tweet
By David P. Greisman - “Bad” Chad has had a good year.
It was only 12 months ago that Chad Dawson was just another prospect, a former middleweight and rising super middleweight whose biggest test to date had been a 2004 stoppage of former 154-pound beltholder Carl Daniels. But young undefeated fighters are a dime a dozen – the real acclaim comes from fame and fortune, the products of face time on the small screen.
Yet, at the time, Dawson’s last performance had flown under the radar, a knockout of a designated opponent that went unseen by the American masses who had tuned in solely for Joe Calzaghe’s trouncing of Jeff Lacy.
Dawson needed more, and he got it.
The June 2, 2006, edition of ShoBox: The New Generation didn’t have the usual headline bout of two prospects facing their toughest tests yet. Instead, the main event of Chad Dawson-Eric Harding was a light heavyweight crossroads bout – except Harding wasn’t your typical crossroads opponent.
The recipe goes like this: Take one young prospect and have him mix it up with one faded, aging veteran. The veteran may give the prospect a test, but his name will ultimately end up looking nice on said prospect’s ledger.
Harding was 33 and many years removed from his decision victories over Montell Griffin and Antonio Tarver. After losing two bouts in a row, he had taken nearly 21 months off from the fight game before returning with two wins.
But those losses came against Glencoffe Johnson and the aforementioned Tarver, two of the three best light heavyweights around. The third, Roy Jones, had stopped Harding in 2000 in the middle of his long reign at 175 pounds. Harding wasn’t done, and, following the layoff, he had proven as much by defeating lower-tier challengers David Telesco and Daniel Judah.
Harding had something left. And it was Harding’s left that floored Dawson in the opening stanza, a flash knockdown that Dawson said was bad for him but worse for his opponent.
“Harding caught me with a good shot, but it was the only mistake I made all night,” Dawson said afterward. “Getting knocked down just makes me meaner.”
Dawson got up and got going, taking control, bloodying Harding’s nose and battling his way to a unanimous decision.
With that win, Dawson had immediately grown from a prospect into a contender. His next bout would see him rise from contender to titlist.
Over 12 rounds, Dawson used jabs, left crosses, an occasional uppercut and a constant ****ing body attack to take it to Tomasz Adamek. And though an Adamek right hand put Dawson to the canvas in the 10th round, it was Dawson who saw his fists raised in the air when the unanimous decision was announced. [details]
It was only 12 months ago that Chad Dawson was just another prospect, a former middleweight and rising super middleweight whose biggest test to date had been a 2004 stoppage of former 154-pound beltholder Carl Daniels. But young undefeated fighters are a dime a dozen – the real acclaim comes from fame and fortune, the products of face time on the small screen.
Yet, at the time, Dawson’s last performance had flown under the radar, a knockout of a designated opponent that went unseen by the American masses who had tuned in solely for Joe Calzaghe’s trouncing of Jeff Lacy.
Dawson needed more, and he got it.
The June 2, 2006, edition of ShoBox: The New Generation didn’t have the usual headline bout of two prospects facing their toughest tests yet. Instead, the main event of Chad Dawson-Eric Harding was a light heavyweight crossroads bout – except Harding wasn’t your typical crossroads opponent.
The recipe goes like this: Take one young prospect and have him mix it up with one faded, aging veteran. The veteran may give the prospect a test, but his name will ultimately end up looking nice on said prospect’s ledger.
Harding was 33 and many years removed from his decision victories over Montell Griffin and Antonio Tarver. After losing two bouts in a row, he had taken nearly 21 months off from the fight game before returning with two wins.
But those losses came against Glencoffe Johnson and the aforementioned Tarver, two of the three best light heavyweights around. The third, Roy Jones, had stopped Harding in 2000 in the middle of his long reign at 175 pounds. Harding wasn’t done, and, following the layoff, he had proven as much by defeating lower-tier challengers David Telesco and Daniel Judah.
Harding had something left. And it was Harding’s left that floored Dawson in the opening stanza, a flash knockdown that Dawson said was bad for him but worse for his opponent.
“Harding caught me with a good shot, but it was the only mistake I made all night,” Dawson said afterward. “Getting knocked down just makes me meaner.”
Dawson got up and got going, taking control, bloodying Harding’s nose and battling his way to a unanimous decision.
With that win, Dawson had immediately grown from a prospect into a contender. His next bout would see him rise from contender to titlist.
Over 12 rounds, Dawson used jabs, left crosses, an occasional uppercut and a constant ****ing body attack to take it to Tomasz Adamek. And though an Adamek right hand put Dawson to the canvas in the 10th round, it was Dawson who saw his fists raised in the air when the unanimous decision was announced. [details]
Comment