Dawson vs Ward on HBO - Saturday night fight thread

[ICB]

I missed the whole thing going back to bed, but as already been mentioned not overly suprising. Moving down in weight to SMW when you've been fighting at LHW for pretty much most of your career is suicide.

Of course he isn't going to have the legs, he's going to be as weak as kitten. Not to make excuses because i haven't seen the fight yet, but its not that suprising to me. Yes Andre Ward is a very good fighter but i suspect the weight hindered Dawson.

[p4pking]

I missed the whole thing going back to bed, but as already been mentioned not overly suprising. Moving down in weight to SMW when you've been fighting at LHW for pretty much most of your career is suicide.

Of course he isn't going to have the legs, he's going to be as weak as kitten. Not to make excuses because i haven't seen the fight yet, but its not that suprising to me. Yes Andre Ward is a very good fighter but i suspect the weight hindered Dawson.

That certainly wasn't the difference in this fight. I have no idea what Dawsons game plan was honestly, but what isn't surprising is that he only fought in spurts and didn't work hard enough to gain any momentum early. In hindsight the two are polar opposites that way, Ward is exceptional at establishing his own and disrupting another fighters rhythm, he doesn't waste energy and capitalizes on openings without fail. Dawson looked good for the first couple of rounds but didn't get into gear, and as soon as Ward landed some good shots Chad seemed lost. The difference tonight was simply that Ward kept pressing once he had Dawson shook up. Chad looked no better against Pascal or even in his last fight, Ward just works a lot harder than he is used to. The guy is a lot like Hopkins only with the gas tank to actually fight 12 hard rounds, he will be extremely hard to beat.

[Dropanuke]

I smell ward vs froch 2!! But has to be in Germany or somewhere like that

[beenKOed]

Knew this fight would be good. It could have been great if Dawson would have moved, just a little and let his hands go. After that first KD, Dawson was like a robot, he had no answers for anything Ward was doing. I started to feel for the guy. Ward looked him over for a round and then took over. He made it look easy!

[IamInuit]

First I am not a fan of Dawson or Ward and was starting to believe that weight might not be an issue given how he looked at the weigh in and the words spoken out of his own mouth. I even suggested that his fans could not use weight as an excuse because of those early observations. After witnessing the fight however I’m not sure it’s an excuse.


Kind of funny how Ward talked about LH after the fight but he would not go past 168 for Dawson. How can anyone deny that weight was not an issue? He looked like a three toed sloth from the opening bell. Sure he made weight on the first try and said he never felt better and actually looked comfortable at the weigh in but he was obviously drained. If there was a fight where compubox gave a glimmer of truth in the punch stats it was this one. Dawson once again forgot where he was and again looked like a deer in the headlights. Combined with his lack of output he was doomed. He's got to be one of the most mentally fragile fighters in the sport.

Dawson started off trying to establish himself on the inside rather then use his natural advantages. That could have not been the game plan and the only reason he did that is because he knew he was half empty before the fight started. Dawson went down three times in that fight and Ward is no puncher. Prior to that he was only down once in his career against Harding. Anyone who tries to suggest to me after what I saw that weight was not a key factor is….

[ruthless rocco]

told you dawson sucks!

he didn't disappoint!

[Kirkland Laing]

Dawson really didn't do a lot in this fight for whatever reason. After the first two knockdowns he was just thinking about making it to the final bell. That's not taking anything away from Ward however, the guy is clearly something special. I agree with the late Hopkins era comparisons. It's a shame Ward doesn't have a mouth like Broner, he'd be much bigger than he is and at least able to fill that arena.

EDIT: What was SSM doing in the ring before the main event?

[ruthless rocco]

Dawson really didn't do a lot in this fight for whatever reason. After the first two knockdowns he was just thinking about making it to the final bell. That's not taking anything away from Ward however, the guy is clearly something special. I agree with the late Hopkins era comparisons. It's a shame Ward doesn't have a mouth like Broner, he'd be much bigger than he is and at least able to fill that arena.

EDIT: What was SSM doing in the ring before the main event?

cause he sucks.

[Mars_ax]

First I am not a fan of Dawson or Ward and was starting to believe that weight might not be an issue given how he looked at the weigh in and the words spoken out of his own mouth. I even suggested that his fans could not use weight as an excuse because of those early observations. After witnessing the fight however I’m not sure it’s an excuse.


Kind of funny how Ward talked about LH after the fight but he would not go past 168 for Dawson. How can anyone deny that weight was not an issue? He looked like a three toed sloth from the opening bell. Sure he made weight on the first try and said he never felt better and actually looked comfortable at the weigh in but he was obviously drained. If there was a fight where compubox gave a glimmer of truth in the punch stats it was this one. Dawson once again forgot where he was and again looked like a deer in the headlights. Combined with his lack of output he was doomed. He's got to be one of the most mentally fragile fighters in the sport.

Dawson started off trying to establish himself on the inside rather then use his natural advantages. That could have not been the game plan and the only reason he did that is because he knew he was half empty before the fight started. Dawson went down three times in that fight and Ward is no puncher. Prior to that he was only down once in his career against Harding. Anyone who tries to suggest to me after what I saw that weight was not a key factor is….

I expected Ward to win a boring, foulfest, what I didn't expect was 3 KD's and total domination. I agree that weight was a bit of an issue for Dawson, but his main problem was too much Ward.

[CutMeMick]

To say BCD sucks is a little much isn't it?

When he applies himself and is 100% he's one of the best.
He's got great ring generalship and great hand speed.

But like I said "when" he applies himself.

He is too inconsistent for me... Too hot and cold and I'm not talking about the Ward fight. After looking at it again I strongly feel the weight played an effect. However being that BCD lacks focus in his fights I'm not certain that outcome would be different at 175.

I think a rematch with Jean would be good now because he knows he would have to win a rematch...

[ruthless rocco]

its not a bit much at all. he has certain natural gifts and athletic talent, but he lacks motivation and killer instinct... he therefore sucks as a boxer. he may be good as a librarian where he could reach books on the high shelves and wear nerdy glasses. he may be good as a paper weight or door stop...he may even be a good door man. but again, he sucks as a boxer.