Dawson vs Ward

[510hustler]

In any of my posts, did I say that he will get embarrassed?

I'm just predicting a 7 rounds to 5 (worst case 8rd's to 4) in favor of Ward. That's a clean 115-113 decision. Nothing embarrassing about it.

Why all the knee-jerk reactions?

I can see the 115-113 part as a possibility. But comparing Dawson to Zab Judah is an insult, it's almost night and day. Zab Judah to Jean Pascal is a more suitable comparison because both are dangerous but not very effective after the 4th round. Also both tend to show up when least expected, and vice versa.

[slicksouthpaw16]

What is all of this mentally tough stuff coming from? One fight? So he didn't show mental toughness in getting up from a knockdown against Adamek and coming back to rock him in the 11th? ****ing 12 rounds with Johnson? Some of you need to be mentally tough (lmao) and not just let one fight cloud your judgement. If Dawson fought the way he fought against Pascal than he would lose without a hint of doubt but that was one of those career changers IMO. He would show up at his best.

[cupocity303]

Sorry for "challenging " you? ...

chad is weak? not...he is not a hard puncher, but his physical strength is up there with the top. He moved up a long time ago, he hung in the trenches with johnson, he backed up tarver, he backed up hopkins, he backed up diaconu.
I know Ward is strong, but he had trouble with the brute strength of sakio bika(unluckily for bikia, he couldnt capitalize properly because his punching technique is not tight enough),and his abilty to smother opponents has been complimented by fighting guys who can't fight inside(kessler, froch, green, miranda). In the Froch fight and the Bika fight you can clearly see many moments where Ward is too open to get hit because of the way he positions himself inside....their punching technique was just too sloppy to capitalize....Dawson will not have that problem...

Dawson will have many problems, but they will be subtle. Everything you said goes both ways. The only empirical evidence we have on Dawson are his fights against Adamek, Tarver 2x, Johnson 2x. Presumingly, those were his most talented opponents, whom he defeated. That's a small sample of Dawson. Stylistically, none of those guys are much more impressive than the Kessler, Abraham and Froch trio on Ward's resume, whom he domianted. If you critique Ward's performance Vs Bika to make a case, it's as relevant as Dawson's performance Vs Johnson in their first fight.

Dawson dominating Adamek isn't anymore impressive than Ward against Kessler. Ward beating Froch is as relevant as Dawson losing to the guy that lost to Froch (Pascal).

[slicksouthpaw16]

Dawson will have many problems, but they will be subtle. Everything you said goes both ways. The only empirical evidence we have on Dawson are his fights against Adamek, Tarver 2x, Johnson 2x. Presumingly, those were his most talented opponents, whom he defeated. That's a small sample of Dawson. Stylistically, none of those guys are much more impressive than the Kessler, Abraham and Froch trio on Ward's resume, whom he domianted. If you critique Ward's performance Vs Bika to make a case, it's as relevant as Dawson's performance Vs Johnson in their first fight.

Dawson dominating Adamek isn't anymore impressive than Ward against Kessler. And I'm even ignoring Dawson getting knocked down Vs Adamek.

Who is better in your opinion, Adamek or Kessler?

[cupocity303]

Who is better in your opinion, Adamek or Kessler?

It's subjective. You can judge it strictly based on styles and ability. Or you can judge it based on Kessler just staying at 168 all his career, while Adamek moved up all the way to Heavyweight, and had success against the Big Men.

If you choose/focus on the latter, then obviously it's Adamek, considering he is the only one of the two, to make it all the way to The Klitschko's. Which seems more impressive to anyone.

But if you ignore that part and focus on Adamek - the Light-Heavyweight, he doesn't seem much more capable than Kessler.

[slicksouthpaw16]

It's subjective. You can judge it strictly based on styles and ability. Or you can judge it based on Kessler just staying at 168 all his career, while Adamek moved up all the way to Heavyweight, and had success against the Big Men.

If you choose/focus on the latter, then obviously it's Adamek considering he is the only one of the two to make all the way to The Klitschko's. Which seems more impressive to anyone.

But if you ignore that part and focus on Adamek - the Light-Heavyweight, he doesn't seem much more capable than Kessler.

But how can you ignore it? Adamek has proven to be more dimensional (regardless of the weight he did it at) than Kessler and has fared way better against different styles. Even taking away him doing it at 200 lbs, i could not see Kessler hunting down good boxers like Cunningham and Banks because hes so one dimensional. Kessler was completely befuddled every time he fought a mover with quick hands.

[sammiza567]

honestly most toss up fight in boxing imo. everyone writing off dawson after the one bad pascal performance. he didnt fight that good with steward but he was cautious he had a new trainer. now he is back with scully and i think he feels he has a lot to prove, even though his resume is already legit. adamek, johnson twice, tarver twice, who are both still fighting at the highest level years after chad fought them. ward is the only one i see troubling him even at cruiserweight. ward is mentally strong, smart, and most importantly undefeated. he doesnt know how to lose as of now, and thats a very good thing imo

[sammiza567]

think whoever takes it is a split decision. also dawson will blast pascal out within 6 in the rematch.

[cupocity303]

But how can you ignore it? Adamek has proven to be more dimensional (regardless of the weight he did it at) than Kessler and has fared way better against different styles. Even taking away him doing it at 200 lbs, i could not see Kessler hunting down good boxers like Cunningham and Banks because hes so one dimensional. Kessler was completely befuddled every time he fought a mover with quick hands.

This is why it's subjective. Kessler doesn't have the frame of Adamek. We will never see him at Cruiser to find out if your theory is true.

If Adamek is Pacquiao, Kessler is Marquez in the context that one can move up all the way to 147, and the other stayed at 135. We will never know if JMM could've done to Cotto, Margarito, Clottey, what Pacquiao did. And JMM would've been bloated anyway. Same goes for Kessler.

If you're talking about him getting schooled by Ward, then that's because Wards is special. And as I said, it's the equivalent to Dawson's win over Adamek. Kessler was competitive against Calzaghe, even though he clearly lost. And there is no shame in Kessler having a competitive fight against Froch, considering Cobra gave Pascal hell, and handled Dirrell fairly well.

Either way, I fail to see how anything in Adamek's skillset (other than size) that makes him better than Kessler. I can agree to disagree that they're about even, AT BEST.

[510hustler]

I want to see this fight soon. Sadly it probably won't happen until 2015.