So what should Dawson do now?

[Blue Heffner]

I like Chad but damn...weight drained or not, he fights with no sense of urgency. He fights laid back as if the fight will last forever. He and his team seemed to not have a plan B. How does an elite fighter get hit in the same spot (right face/head) that many times and not adjust? Something is just lacking with Chad.

[Canelo Phresh]

Tavoris Cloud is waiting at the gates of light heavy

[Boxingwizard]

I like Chad but damn...weight drained or not, he fights with no sense of urgency. He fights laid back as if the fight will last forever. He and his team seemed to not have a plan B. How does an elite fighter get hit in the same spot (right face/head) that many times and not adjust? Something is just lacking with Chad.

Dawson is a type of boxer who needs a trainer to discipline him so he can fight to the best of his abilities, a lot of boxers are like that, the problem with Dawson is that he switches trainers so often. He was at his best with Floyd Sr, because Sr. didn't put with Dawson's bad habits. Floyd Sr. knows how to prepare a boxer for a world championship fight, Scully can't.

The offer he accepted from Ward and the way he has recently fought, he was asking for a loss. As much as I don't think highly of Scully as a trainer, it was Dawson who dropped Steward. If Dawson stayed with Steward, he would have beaten Hopkins the first time, there wouldn't have been a second fight. Also Scully was giving Dawson the wrong advice, it wasn't the right hand Dawson had to worry about, it was Ward's left hook.

Dawson as you saw today, was just poor preparation, no plan B, he was just off on his own, no foot movement, no defense, on top of that he had to sacrifice a lot just to make weight. As a Dawson fan I was afraid this going to happen, against Ward you need to be 100% mentally determined and mentally ready, and he clearly wasn't.

[Heru]

Unify against Cleverly, Shumenov, and Cloud (3 good fights that he should be able to win) and eventually rematch Pascal. I, also, want to see him against Campillo (unlike Cloud, Chad would actually beat him). Sillakh getting upset delayed a very dangerous contender.

Ward will stay at 168 for some time so Dawson can continue to be the #1 fighter at 175.

[Boxingwizard]

Unify against Cleverly, Shumenov, and Cloud (3 good fights that he should be able to win) and eventually rematch Pascal. I, also, want to see him against Campillo (unlike Cloud, Chad would actually beat him). Sillakh getting upset delayed a very dangerous contender.

Ward will stay at 168 for some time so Dawson can continue to be the #1 fighter at 175.

I think Dawson can beat Ward at 175, just depending on how much Dawson improves. There is still things Dawson can improve on.

[Daddy T]

can we stop with the weight drained crap? It was his choice to go down, he was the one that pushed the fight. Bottom line is he got his ass handed to him by the better fighter.

[!! Shawn]

As a Dawson fan, I'm not that disappointed, I kind of expected this. Dawson will bounce back. Some fans will say he needs a new trainer? Dawson was at his best when he was with Floyd Sr, but those bridges are burned. Maybe he should switch to Steward, he will teach Dawson how to use his height and reach better.


Dawson didn't look fast at all, he wasn't moving as much, and he was right in front of Ward all the time. Keep in my I'm not making excuses for Dawson, Ward probably would have beaten Dawson at 175. But Dawson's skill go up and down everytime he switches trainers. As much as I like to blame the trainers, it's all on Dawson.

I honestly don't want to see him fight again after he quit. I don't like quitters. He should have taken a dive, or gotten his corner to throw in the towel, but to straight up say "Its over, I'm done, Get me out of here"; its disgraceful.

[!! Shawn]

I think Dawson can beat Ward at 175, just depending on how much Dawson improves. There is still things Dawson can improve on.

No... This was not a fight of weight draining or size, it was a fight of Ward completely and totally out skilling Dawson. He out thought him every step of the way. He took away all of Dawsons advantages, and he would do it again.

[Boxingwizard]

No... This was not a fight of weight draining or size, it was a fight of Ward completely and totally out skilling Dawson. He out thought him every step of the way. He took away all of Dawsons advantages, and he would do it again.

Dawson had no speed at all, his foot was glued to the floor, there was no snap in his punches, no defense, no lateral movement, he was getting hit by the same punch the whole night. Dawson didn't even keep his right hand up, he did some weird shoulder roll crap that made him vulnerable to Ward's left.

I'm not going to take anything for Ward's victory, because they obviously did their homework. It was just poor preparation by Dawson's camp, some of that blame goes to the trainer. Dawson shouldn't have never accepted Ward's term in the first place. If his trainer and manager knew better, they would have went against it.

I saw Dawson's skills degrade in the Hopkins fight, Dawson couldn't even properly throw a straight left without being off-balance. Scully didn't even teach Dawson how to throw a straight left, nor how to use distance. There is a lot of things Scully should have taught Dawson but didn't. The gameplan of Hopkins was obvious, which was using foot-movement to nullify Dawson's jab, and Ward obviously took a page off of Hopkins playbook. Scully is not a world class trainer, and you will need a world class trainer to prepare for a world-class fight.

[Heru]

I think Dawson can beat Ward at 175, just depending on how much Dawson improves. There is still things Dawson can improve on.

Chad has never been hit clean as constantly and consistently as Ward caught him tonight and he couldn't really do anything in return. Ward found the key to Dawson's defense and pulled the plug on his offense.

He doesn't need Ward to continue being one of the best fighters in boxing. The Light Heavyweight belts are fragmented to the point that he can spend his time on that and rematch Pascal. Froch not only revived his career, but he's at the highest point of his career because, even if he isn't the best, there are other people to fight.

Dawson should just do what Froch is doing and exclude Ward out of any future plans regardless of what happens in the future...