Quote Originally Posted by mikeeod View Post
I say he is done. The bigger question/observation, and along the lines of a thread I started, is what happens to guys after they fight Hop? Think about it, Tito, Winky, Jermain Taylor, Pascal, Cloud, Tarver, Pavilik and Dawson all fell apart after fighting him. Taylor and Dawson both got decisions over Hop, and Dawson actually deserved his, neither took career ending punishment and both guys deteriorated significantly immediately after fighting him. Is it mental? Does he make them doubt themselves or become hesitant to miss or get countered?

Anyways, I hate to try and hijack a thread on a different topic, just wondering what happened to Dawson. I feel he is done at this point, missing the desire and mental edge necessary to reach the elite level he was at. Just wondering what caused it, because while he took a horrific beating vs Ward, he already seemed to be damaged goods going into that fight.
I can see why you think that, but I don't think so. Mind you those were all good performances by Hopkins and I mean to take nothing away from him. I just don't think he's done that to anyone.

Pavlik had a few good performances after losing to Hopkins. He beat up Rubio, who went on to stop Lemiuex and is fighting GGG in a few weeks. He also beat up Will Rosinksy, who although not great, is not a slouch either. Ultimately, Pavlik was a much better middleweight than he was above middleweight, which showed against Hopkins. Taylor also beat up Froch for 9 or 10 rounds before losing to him in the final two rounds. But, if anything, Pavlik ruined Taylor. Cloud was exposed by Campillo, lest we forget, before the Hopkins fight. Campillo schooled him and was robbed. Winky is an odd case. I don't think he ever was ruined. Why do you think he was? I think Tito was above his best weight class when he fought Hopkins too. You didn't mention Pascal but he beat up Bute after losing to Hopkins. I just don't see it.