Like Bowe, Chad Dawson Won't Be Dictated To

[jmmfan]

Yes, you're saying that Adamek should have refused to give Dawson his chance. I doubt Dawson would have felt the same way, though.

Talent finds a way to the spotlight. If this nimbus guy is so great then I'm sure he'll manage.

[Dave Rado]

Talent finds a way to the spotlight. If this nimbus guy is so great then I'm sure he'll manage.

Maybe, but the point is that the sanctioning bodies are a necessary evil, and that if there were no mandatories, many deserving contenders would never get a shot.

I do actually think that Dawson is justified in this instance. Johnson isn't getting any younger and the rematch needs to happen as soon as possible. If Cloud beats Woods convincingly in the meantime, and if Dawson beats Johnson convincingly, then a Dawson-Cloud fight would make far more money than it would now. And Dawson is quite right that Cloud hasn't yet beaten anyone to justify his mandatory ranking.

But your absolutist position is still wrong, IMO.

[jmmfan]

Maybe, but the point is that the sanctioning bodies are a necessary evil, and that if there were no mandatories, many deserving contenders would never get a shot.

I do actually think that Dawson is justified in this instance. Johnson isn't getting any younger and the rematch needs to happen as soon as possible. If Cloud beats Woods convincingly in the meantime, and if Dawson beats Johnson convincingly, then a Dawson-Cloud fight would make far more money than it would now. And Dawson is quite right that Cloud hasn't yet beaten anyone to justify his mandatory ranking.

But your absolutist position is still wrong, IMO.

You're probably right about them being a necessary evil, but they could be less evil. Or less necessary. Or something in between. I agree that the occasional mandatory fight ends up being a "why the **** didn't this guy pop his head up sooner?" welcoming party, but it's few and far between and (arguably) not worth justifying all of the backwards **** these organizations have been getting away with. I'm just saying that I respect somebody that holds their ground against them, even if it sucks for the other parties involved.

[Dave Rado]

You're probably right about them being a necessary evil, but they could be less evil. Or less necessary. Or something in between. I agree that the occasional mandatory fight ends up being a "why the **** didn't this guy pop his head up sooner?" welcoming party, but it's few and far between and (arguably) not worth justifying all of the backwards **** these organizations have been getting away with. I'm just saying that I respect somebody that holds their ground against them, even if it sucks for the other parties involved.

What happens when there are no mandatories is that you get Archie Moore getting his first title shot at the age of 39, despite having been a contender for most of the previous 16 years. That's why they're a necessary evil.

Dawson can only afford to stand up to the alphabet organisations now because he's already made a name for himself, thanks to his résumé. But he couldn't have got that résumé without the alphabet organisations and their mandatory system. In particular, Adamek had no other reason to fight him, as he was a high risk, zero reward fight for Adamek at that time, just as Cloud is for Dawson now.

I agree that it's a shame it seems nothing can be done to make them less evil, though - the rankings do suck. But they haven't been particularly evil in this instance: Cloud has been a mandatory for an entire year, and although his résumé isn't much, based on his performances he's probably a worthy mandatory. I hope he beats Woods and that Cloud-Dawson happens after that.

[JED46]

Guys, there's nothing to worry about. People need to calm down about **** like this. Cloud is not getting ripped off. Not only is he getting a title shot, but he's getting it against a weaker opponent than Dawson! With his relative inexperience and long layoff, he should prefer this fight. He can build his name by beating a respectable opponent and picking up a belt in the process. So what's the big deal?!

As for Adamek, he should have done what was best for him. If he had a bigger money fight elsewhere, he should have taken it. If not, fight his mandatory. Simple as that. The alphabet trinkets are just a means to an end. Their purpose should be to advance a fighter's career, not to be a shackle. If Adamek vacated, Dawson would have simply fought someone else for the belt. It's Dawson and his promotor's responsibility to build his reputation and his career, not Adamek. A fighter doesn't have to let other fighters build their career off of him. Of course we all want to see the best fight the best, but you can't force a fighter to fight. They're the ones taking all the risks. They risk their lives, their brains, their futures, their careers every time they step into the ring. It can be frustrating for us fans, but fighters are entitled to fight who they want when they want, whether we like it or not.

Maybe it's different for guys like Mayweather and Calzaghe, who were good enough to beat everybody out there. It's not as much of a risk for them. I love Adamek, he's so entertaining, but he wasn't the best light-heavy. We all know that. He would've been better off fighting someone like Woods, and then moving up to Cruiser. It was a good decision to not fight Hopkins. There, I said it.

And as for Dawson, this is clearly a good fight for him, and a good fight for all of us. Don't we all want this fight?! God, a fight fan is crazy if he doesn't want to see this fight! For those of you who don't like Dawson and just wanna rag on him, don't you want to see him fight the guy who gave him all he could handle? I, for one, thought Johnson beat Dawson (seven rounds to five, it was close.) I respect Dawson's abilities, but I wouldn't call myself a Dawson fan. So Dawson-Johnson II should be a fight we all want to see.

[EL ANIMAL]

Wait a god damm minute!!!! Theres a huge diffrence between dawson and bowe any one intelligent knows that. Bowe was the worst heavyweight champion in history to me period. Bowe threw the wbc tittle in the trash rather then fight his biggest threat to the tittle in lennox lewis. He was ****in scared and didnt wanna take it there, instead he chose to fight (michael dokes & jesse furgeson) are u ****in kiddin me!!! Thats a champion??? Yeah ok.. Thats a disgrace right there so he didnt really show the organizations anything real fight fans arent buying that. On the other hand chad has given up tittles to fight better opponents,, he gave up the wbc to fight tarver and now the ibf to rematch glen johnson!!! Thats a real champ for u right there!!! He's showing the organizations he dont need em and proving it. So dont mention bowe and chad in the same sentence to me thats disrespectful!!!!.....

[Clegg]

what is corrupt about Dawson fighting Cloud as his mandatory? Cloud was made his mandatory over one year ago, chad has had plenty of time to prepare.

Having the mandatory system is a good thing, but IMO the best thing would be to have Diaconu vs Cloud, which would mean we have a contender that is proven as the best challenger.

Instead all we have is a couple of unproven guys who are waiting around for a shot at Dawson rather than fighting one another.

To be honest I think Cloud should've had to face Woods for the mandatory position anyway.

[Boxingwizard]

This article is trash. Mandatories are part of the game and it's a good thing to have them. Sure, sometimes mandatories are crappy opponents or not worthy, but where would Paul Williams be if he wasn't made mandatory to Margarito? What about Pavlik, etc.?

And Cloud is an undefeated fighter who has a ton of power. Sure, he's fought a lot of bums, but he worked his way up and he's been Dawson's mandatory for over a year, it's not like Dawson didn't know well in advance that Cloud has been waiting for him.

And if Dawson is worried about TV time, they could easily fit this match on an undercard or co-main event it if they want HBO or Showtime, not to mention ESPN would gladly pick this fight up.

LOL @ comparing this to what Bowe did, not even close!!! Bowe did it so he could fight Holyfield again, which was MASSIVE, Dawson is doing it to fight Glen Johnson, which will barley even make any newspapers.

You and I know Dawson was feeling the pressure from the media and the fans of needing to rematch Glen Johnson. IMO that fight comes first before anything else for Dawson, even if it meant dropping the IBF belt. Dawson did the right thing and Cloud does not deserve the IBF strap in the way he's getting it.

Why don't you google Chad Dawson on the news section and see how many articles are written about him and your boy Tavoris Cloud certainly isn't getting any more press that Dawson is. Oh and Bowe was scared of Lewis that was obvious.

[Steak]

lol, what a garbage article. theres a HUGE difference between dropping a belt to avoid fighting Lennox Lewis and instead fight Michael Dokes, and dropping a belt to avoid fighting Tavoris Cloud and instead fighting Glen Johnson.

Im not really sold on Dawson as the next big thing, but how can you possibly fault him for rematching Johnson? not only do they have controversial history in the past, but Johnson is clearly the better and more established fighter.

no offense to Tavoris Cloud, but the guy doesnt have a single good win other than Julio Cesar Gonzalez, and has never been shown on HBO, as far as I know.

I very clearly understand the point of mandatories, but they mean very little when the belts fail to rank everyone in the division in the first place.

[Boxingwizard]

lol, what a garbage article. theres a HUGE difference between dropping a belt to avoid fighting Lennox Lewis and instead fight Michael Dokes, and dropping a belt to avoid fighting Tavoris Cloud and instead fighting Glen Johnson.

Im not really sold on Dawson as the next big thing, but how can you possibly fault him for rematching Johnson? not only do they have controversial history in the past, but Johnson is clearly the better and more established fighter.

no offense to Tavoris Cloud, but the guy doesnt have a single good win other than Julio Cesar Gonzalez, and has never been shown on HBO, as far as I know.

I very clearly understand the point of mandatories, but they mean very little when the belts fail to rank everyone in the division in the first place.

He doesn't deserve the IBF belt in the way he's getting it. Some people think Cloud deserves the IBF strap when Dawson was never enforced by the IBF to fight Cloud until the last minute. I liked in the 50's and 60's when boxers fought for a certain amount time a year and still kept the belt.