Chad Dawson: The Misunderstood Champion

[Iceta]

see, this is the ******ity of this criticism.

The top of the LHW division was Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe, Glenn Johnson, Antonio Tarver.

These were the NAMES and CHAMPIONS of the division.

So as an up and coming LHW fighter, who is Chad supposed to gun for? Who? If these are the BIGGEST and BEST names in the division who are also CHAMPIONS, what difference does it make that they're also the oldest? Is Chad NOT supposed to call out the champions? Is he NOT supposed to go after the bigger names in the divisions? Is he NOT supposed to go after who is perceived as the best?

The funny thing is that Chad has BEATEN top prime fighters in LHW. One of the is the CURRENT Cruiserweight champions.

When coming into the Adamek fight, who was the underdog? Chad was. Chad completely dominated Adamek. Adamek was weight drained? He wasn't complaining when he was the champion. Its funny how different things become after you lose your belt.

The 2 biggest and best names in the division wont fight Hopkins. But Johnson was willing to. It was a hard fight for both of them. Controversial even. But Johnson IS a bigger and better name than Cloud. Chad moved on and everyone began calling him a ducker for not rematching Johnson. Fair enough.

Chad fought Tarver and alot of you Calzaghe fans were picking Tarver to beat Dawson. Dawson dominated that ass and Tarver had a rematch clause. Something Johnson didnt have. And again, "Dawson is ducking Johnson".

Chad beats Tarver again. And now is giving Johnson a rematch. NOW, "Chad is ducking Cloud"? Seriously? Who the **** is Cloud? How is Cloud going to help Chad break into the boxing mainstream?

Explain this to me. You Calzaghe fans, you Hopkins fans, and now all you NEW little Cloud fans that didn't exist before were criticizing inability to draw. His ticket sales havent been spectacular. How the *** is fighting Cloud going to help his name sell tickets when no one knows who Cloud is?

According to you, Dawson doesn't deserve to fight Calzaghe because he cant draw, yet you want him to fight UNKNOWN fighters rather than the BIGGEST names in the division who are all "OLD" now all of a sudden which in turn will not help him become a name at all.

The fact is, Dawson is trying to do what Clazaghe NEVER did. Dawson willing to sacrifice to fight the bigger names. He is WILLING to travel to Wales and fight Calzaghe where as Calzaghe waited 10 years to come to America.

And what did Calzaghe do? He fought Bernard Hopkins at the time when he looked most vulnerable. And then fights Roy Jones Jr, the ghost of boxing past.

Yeah, Calzaghe truly lead by example.

Froch, Taylor, Kessler, Green, Ward > Cloud, ......, ......., ........

Thats what the reality is. If you don't like Dawson because he threatens your favorite fighter, fine. But be real about ****.

Well, the biased fans of Chad Dawson like yourself fail to put yourself in the shoes of other fighters that fight at or near his division. I'll admit that Adrian Diaconu is overrated and that Chad would beat him. But I think that Cloud is a live threat to him. Think about this: Do you think that Chad Dawson would have scored a TKO victory over Julio Gonzalez? He would have pitty patted his way to a boring ass decision victory like he has with other of his opponents. I've pointed this out before, I give Chad his props for attempting to clean up his unfinished business with Glen Johnson, and he should make that a priority over fighting Cloud for now. But it makes me wonder what Chad is gonna do if he happens to barely sc**** past him like he did the first time. Cloud is gonna have his belt and he'll be more wanted by the TV networks because of his more exciting style. HBO is gonna kick Dawson to the curb. Real talk. And Chad could've fought Tavoris instead of fighting Tarver a second time. The rematch clause had a two-fight option. He would have still had the rematch with Tarver in the way of course, but you can't tell me that Tarver poses a bigger threat to him with his sapped punch arsenal than Cloud does.

[HeartAttack]

Well, the biased fans of Chad Dawson like yourself fail to put yourself in the shoes of other fighters that fight at or near his division. I'll admit that Adrian Diaconu is overrated and that Chad would beat him. But I think that Cloud is a live threat to him. Think about this: Do you think that Chad Dawson would have scored a TKO victory over Julio Gonzalez? He would have pitty patted his way to a boring ass decision victory like he has with other of his opponents. I've pointed this out before, I give Chad his props for attempting to clean up his unfinished business with Glen Johnson, and he should make that a priority over fighting Cloud for now. But it makes me wonder what Chad is gonna do if he happens to barely sc**** past him like he did the first time. Cloud is gonna have his belt and he'll be more wanted by the TV networks because of his more exciting style. HBO is gonna kick Dawson to the curb. Real talk. And Chad could've fought Tavoris instead of fighting Tarver a second time. The rematch clause had a two-fight option. He would have still had the rematch with Tarver in the way of course, but you can't tell me that Tarver poses a bigger threat to him with his sapped punch arsenal than Cloud does.

lol, this way of thought is the epitome of what is wrong with the sport. Dawson is an entertaining fighter even though Cloud is too. Dawson/Johnson I was the best light heavyweight fight this decade. The reason why Dawson didn't fight Cloud now is because HBO didn't want Cloud. how are they going to kick Dawson to the curb and replace him with someone they could care less about. C'mon it's doesn't take a Dawson nuthugger to realize how flawed your logic is.

[Iceta]

lol, this way of thought is the epitome of what is wrong with the sport. Dawson is an entertaining fighter even though Cloud is too. Dawson/Johnson I was the best light heavyweight fight this decade. The reason why Dawson didn't fight Cloud now is because HBO didn't want Cloud. how are they going to kick Dawson to the curb and replace him with someone they could care less about. C'mon it's doesn't take a Dawson nuthugger to realize how flawed your logic is.

Just because the Johnson-Dawson fight was exciting doesn't mean Dawson is an exciting fighter. That's the difference. To be an exciting fighter you have to have an ability to put a stamp on your victories. And that is something that Dawson lacks. What I meant by saying HBO was going to kick Dawson to the curb is the fact that this is his last fight with the network and his contract will be up. If he fails to beat Johnson impressively like last time, and gets an unfavorable decision, HBO will have a reluctance to re-sign him because of his weak fan base. He'll be forced to fight some high risk, low reward contenders in the future because of that, and people shouldn't make a big fuss about giving deserving young up and coming fighters a chance because Dawson has been in that position before.

[HeartAttack]

Just because the Johnson-Dawson fight was exciting doesn't mean Dawson is an exciting fighter. That's the difference. To be an exciting fighter you have to have an ability to put a stamp on your victories. And that is something that Dawson lacks. What I meant by saying HBO was going to kick Dawson to the curb is the fact that this is his last fight with the network and his contract will be up. If he fails to beat Johnson impressively like last time, and gets an unfavorable decision, HBO will have a reluctance to re-sign him because of his weak fan base. He'll be forced to fight some high risk, low reward contenders in the future because of that, and people shouldn't make a big fuss about giving deserving young up and coming fighters a chance because Dawson has been in that position before.

there is a difference between young up and comers and "deserving". Cloud hasn't fought for almost 10 months and only beat Gonzalez. It was impressive, but not enough to draw attention to himself. The trinket titles are useless and Dawson did the right thing. Yusaf Mack did a great thing tonight and Cloud should take notice. Let the kid get a paper title and a good win against Woods. hopefully he'll fulfill his potential, but not fighting at all isn't helping and blwong off televised more meaning fights to fight Woods for an empty strap isn't helping much. I guarntee you, after Mack's performance, HBO would've put Cloud in there with him to test his mettle and make him marketable.

[Iceta]

there is a difference between young up and comers and "deserving". Cloud hasn't fought for almost 10 months and only beat Gonzalez. It was impressive, but not enough to draw attention to himself. The trinket titles are useless and Dawson did the right thing. Yusaf Mack did a great thing tonight and Cloud should take notice. Let the kid get a paper title and a good win against Woods. hopefully he'll fulfill his potential, but not fighting at all isn't helping and blwong off televised more meaning fights to fight Woods for an empty strap isn't helping much. I guarntee you, after Mack's performance, HBO would've put Cloud in there with him to test his mettle and make him marketable.

Mack fought tonight? I didn't know that. You are right that Cloud has a spotty resume, but so did Dawson at the time that he got his shot at a title when he fought Adamek. Mandatories are part of the game. The sanctioning bodies are money grubbers though, I'll admit.

[Iceta]

Also, people make too much about that incident of where Cloud turned down a televised shot on HBO. He would have had to fought for less money and without a shot of the title from what I understand. But you're right, Yusaf Mack is a better fighter than Clinton Woods.

[jangeorg]

Maybe he will try to get a fight with Tommy Hearns, who said he's coming out of retirement.

Then if he wins, he'll give Hearns a rematch. They'll make sure it's in the contract, as it was with Tarver.

And after these fight, he can fight Virgil Hill,Dariusz Michalczewski and finnaly Henry Maske

[dans]

Great article. I agree 100%.

[hookoutofhell]

see, this is the ******ity of this criticism.

The top of the LHW division was Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe, Glenn Johnson, Antonio Tarver.

These were the NAMES and CHAMPIONS of the division.

So as an up and coming LHW fighter, who is Chad supposed to gun for? Who? If these are the BIGGEST and BEST names in the division who are also CHAMPIONS, what difference does it make that they're also the oldest? Is Chad NOT supposed to call out the champions? Is he NOT supposed to go after the bigger names in the divisions? Is he NOT supposed to go after who is perceived as the best?

The funny thing is that Chad has BEATEN top prime fighters in LHW. One of the is the CURRENT Cruiserweight champions.

When coming into the Adamek fight, who was the underdog? Chad was. Chad completely dominated Adamek. Adamek was weight drained? He wasn't complaining when he was the champion. Its funny how different things become after you lose your belt.

The 2 biggest and best names in the division wont fight Hopkins. But Johnson was willing to. It was a hard fight for both of them. Controversial even. But Johnson IS a bigger and better name than Cloud. Chad moved on and everyone began calling him a ducker for not rematching Johnson. Fair enough.

Chad fought Tarver and alot of you Calzaghe fans were picking Tarver to beat Dawson. Dawson dominated that ass and Tarver had a rematch clause. Something Johnson didnt have. And again, "Dawson is ducking Johnson".

Chad beats Tarver again. And now is giving Johnson a rematch. NOW, "Chad is ducking Cloud"? Seriously? Who the **** is Cloud? How is Cloud going to help Chad break into the boxing mainstream?

Explain this to me. You Calzaghe fans, you Hopkins fans, and now all you NEW little Cloud fans that didn't exist before were criticizing inability to draw. His ticket sales havent been spectacular. How the *** is fighting Cloud going to help his name sell tickets when no one knows who Cloud is?

According to you, Dawson doesn't deserve to fight Calzaghe because he cant draw, yet you want him to fight UNKNOWN fighters rather than the BIGGEST names in the division who are all "OLD" now all of a sudden which in turn will not help him become a name at all.

The fact is, Dawson is trying to do what Clazaghe NEVER did. Dawson willing to sacrifice to fight the bigger names. He is WILLING to travel to Wales and fight Calzaghe where as Calzaghe waited 10 years to come to America.

And what did Calzaghe do? He fought Bernard Hopkins at the time when he looked most vulnerable. And then fights Roy Jones Jr, the ghost of boxing past.

Yeah, Calzaghe truly lead by example.

Froch, Taylor, Kessler, Green, Ward > Cloud, ......, ......., ........

Thats what the reality is. If you don't like Dawson because he threatens your favorite fighter, fine. But be real about ****.

i agree with alot of what youve said, i think you're being unnecessarily harsh on zaghe - zaghe has had to put up with alot in his career namely sven ottke, the one person who prevented zaghe from unifying earlier than he did, a promoter who wasn't able to secure big enough fights, brittle hands has lead him to change his style etc.

but i think you are right - chad is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. if he had taken on cloud as mandatory for the IBF belt:

- critics would have said he is ducking johnson and avoiding the rematch with the only fighter who gave him a close fight.

- that he is fighting a fighter who is still too green

but now that hes decided to challenge johnson others are saying:

- hes ducking cloud, and using the belts to cherry pick the fights that he wants

i sympathise with chad, i really do hes in an awkward spot.

personally i think some fights are just a matter of time kessler vs dawson, cloud vs dawson, berto vs cotto etc some fights are almost definently going to be made its just a matter of time.

i think its unfair to say that dawson has been challenging fighters who are too old, the main guys in the division are too damn old and thats not dawsons fault!!