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For many years, young southpaw Chad Dawson was known as “Bad” Chad . On Feb. 3, 2007, “Bad” Chad became “Awesome” Dawson .
On that night, Dawson captured his first world title, the World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight crown, with a brilliant and decisive 12-round decision over fellow unbeaten defending champion Tomasz Adamek of Poland on Showtime.
In two impressive bouts on “ShoBox: The New Generation,” the premium network’s prospect oriented series, and a career-best victory on Showtime Championship Boxing Dawson went from promising prospect to legitimate contender to world champion. Now, the 24-year-old is poised to become boxing’s next great American superstar.
” Dawson will stay at light heavyweight to unify the titles,” said Gary Shaw, Dawson ‘s promoter. “After he has accomplished that feat, it is onward and upward to the heavyweight division. Following in the footsteps of Evander Holyfield, Dawson will reign supreme.”
A dominant Dawson put on a boxing clinic for 29 minutes in his first world title fight and triumphed impressively over Adamek by the scores 118-108, 117-109 and 116-110 despite going down in the 10th round at Kissimmee , Fla. Who says chads in Florida usually lead to close, disputed decisions?
“It was a long time coming,” said Dawson (23-0, 1 NC, 15 KOs), who will defend his crown against Jesus Ruiz Saturday, June 9, 2007, on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING. “I always knew I could do it. I reached my potential in this fight.”
In the June 9 main event, legendary former World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and WBC light heavyweight champion Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver (24-4, 18 KOs) will battle Elvir Muriqi (34-3, 21 KOs) for the vacant Intern ational Boxing Organization (IBO) 175-pound belt. The New York-based Muriqi has won three in a row and 21 of his last 23.
The light heavyweight doubleheader, promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing and Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, will air on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast) from the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Conn.
No one should use one fight as a measuring stick of greatness, but Dawson, of New Haven , Conn. , by way of Hartsville , S.C. , took a giant leap toward stardom by outquicking, outslicking and outscoring Adamek. “I couldn’t catch him,” said Adamek, who entered the bout 5-0 against left-handers.
A middleweight just two years ago, the six-foot-three-inch Dawson showed that he had the potential for a long, lucrative reign as champion. No longer can fights against light heavyweight luminaries such as Tarver, Bernard Hopkins, Glen Johnson and Roy Jones Jr. be treated as pipe dreams.
Youthful cockiness led to a bit of drama on Feb. 3, however, when a confident Dawson began dropping his hands and leaning in. When he attempted to throw a slow right hook halfway through the 10th round, Adamek countered with a jab and straight right that put Dawson on the canvas.
Another moment of drama occurred when ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. read the scores. As expected, the judges saw it heavily in Dawson ’s favor. However, Lennon introduced the winner’s name with the phrase, “and still.” Dawson ’s mouth dropped open, thinking Adamek somehow retained his title, but Lennon concluded with “undefeated” before heralding the arrival of the new champion.
Ruiz, 33, of Huixquilucan , Mexico , is an aggressive 13-year-pro whose career has been defined by layoffs and tough opposition. He is coming off of a first-round KO over Rodney Moore on Nov. 10, 2006.
The Moore bout represented Ruiz’ first start since he lost a 12-round decision 20 months earlier to Paul Briggs, who engaged Adamek in two memorable WBC 175-pound title slugfests.
The aggressive-minded, six-foot-two-inch Ruiz dropped Briggs in the second, but fell short by the scores 117-113, 116-112 and 114-113.
Besides the world-class Briggs, Ruiz also has been in and performed well against former WBC light heavyweight champion Montell Griffin and world title challenger Julio Gonzalez.
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING’s Steve Albert and Al Bernstein will call the action from ringside with Jim Gray serving as roving reporter. The executive producer of the SHOWTIME telecast will be David Dinkins Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.
For information on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and “ShoBox: The New Generation” telecasts, including complete fighter bios and records, related stories and more, please go the SHOWTIME website at www.sho.com/boxing.
