Chad Dawson will beat Ward.

[Earl-Hickey]

Credit to Ward for taking the fight, but styles make fights.

As good as Ward is, he is not unbeatable.

Ali beats Foreman, Foreman beats Frazier, Frazier beats Ali

This is how it is.

Froch beats Pascal, Hopkins beats Pascal, Pascal beats Dawson, Dawson beats Hopkins.

At this level, if you fight the best, at some point, someone will just have your number stylistically.

[Rassclot]

Chad beats Ward senseless.

Bet the house.


Worst stylistic match-up for Ward.

[Earl-Hickey]

Andre Ward, although a great fighter, is up against it in this one for a few reasons.

1. Height/Reach

Dawson is the taller man, maybe even 3 inches tall when they come face to face imo. He also has a 5 1/2" reach advantage, which is going to play a factor in the nature of this fight.

2. Styles

Although Ward is doubtless the better all round fighter, the fact is he is very good at everything but doesnt excel enough in any particular area to take advantage of Dawsons weakness (which i feel is his mental weakness) he will not be able to hurt Dawson with bombs which is what Pascal did which which lead to Dawsons plans unravelling.

This fight will be fought from the outside, where Daswon is the faster, better composite puncher, with the power advantage, he probably has the better footwork too.

4. Experience.

To prepare for this fight, lets look at the past 3 main opponents for both guys

Ward:

Froch
Abraham
Bika

None of these guys have any similarities to Dawson AT ALL, horrible preparation for this fight.

Dawson:

Hopkins X2
Pascal

To be honest I couldn't think of much better preparation, you have a guy with speed from the outside, and then the master on the inside, both similar in size to Ward. I mean if you were picking sparring partners for a ward fight, these guys would be top of the list.


So the way I see it, Dawson will beat Ward from the outside, Ward will be having to adapt early in the fight after becoming accustomed to fighting slow bangers, while Dawson will know from the Hopkins fights exactly how to avoid getting pulled into an inside war, Ward will adjust and come on in the mid rounds, but Dawson will still be too fast, with too much range.

And If Ward's tank is low towards the end he will be in trouble against the bigger man.

Dawson will win 8 rounds to 4 or close to that margin.

Thoughts?????

[MRBOOMER]

If its at 168 I believe ward will pull out with a win close but a win none the less I believe ward will keep this fight on the inside if he can he'll win if he can't he'll get beat badly if it's at 175 that means he'll have less power then he already does plus Dawson won't have the possibility of being drained so there's just no hope...

[510hustler]

I agree with you Earl, and have been thinking this for a few years. Ward does not have anywhere close to the footwork Hopkins has even at 47. However, the fight being at 168 leaves a bit of uncertainty.

[Rassclot]

There is nothing Ward can do to Chad.


Range game. Slick game. Southpaw game. Ward has 0 punching power.


The only person that can beat Chad in this game is Chad himself. If he channels himself correctly and has the right drive, he will win.

[Earl-Hickey]

I agree with you Earl, and have been thinking this for a few years. Ward does not have anywhere close to the footwork Hopkins has even at 47. However, the fight being at 168 leaves a bit of uncertainty.

Yeah that's my only concern is if Dawson will be drained, I actually think this will be his only fight at 168 because cutting weight will be too hard, however i still think he'll just about manage it and pull out the result.

[A-Wolf]

Credit to Ward for taking the fight, but styles make fights.

As good as Ward is, he is not unbeatable.

Ali beats Foreman, Foreman beats Frazier, Frazier beats Ali

This is how it is.

Froch beats Pascal, Hopkins beats Pascal, Pascal beats Dawson, Dawson beats Hopkins.

At this level, if you fight the best, at some point, someone will just have your number stylistically.

Any particular reason you see it that way? Tactically.

[Earl-Hickey]

Any particular reason you see it that way? Tactically.

2nd post my boy

[Light_Speed]

Bad style matchup for Dawson. He's a skilled but lethargic fighter who struggles to let his hands go and Ward is a dynamic fighter who always tries to win every round clearly.