There seems to be a thought among boxing fans that the Andre Ward vs. Chad Dawson match up will be a boring fight. I tend to disagree. Ward vs. Dawson will match up two fighters in their prime who are both considered to be two of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
Ward, who is 25-0 with 13 knockouts as a professional, is a former Olympic gold medal winner and the current WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine Champion in the super middleweight division.
Dawson is the current WBC and Ring Magazine Champion at light heavyweight. He sports an impressive record of 37 wins and only 1 defeat with 17 knockouts.
With two of the best fighters in the world coming together, I don’t understand all the negativity coming from the boxing public about this fight. Boxing fans are constantly griping that the best don't fight the best, but when these two decided to buck that trend, the negativity came streaming in.
Some people will say that they aren’t big punchers. That statement has some validity to it, but keep in mind the level of opposition the two of them have faced in recent years.
Ward, who recently won in dominating fashion in Showtime’s Super Six Boxing Classic, was matched up against the best super middleweights in the world. He faced Carl Froch, a two-time champion who has never been stopped in his career—Ward beat him easily in a one-sided affair. He also outclassed Arthur Abraham, another former champion who has never been stopped. In addition to the aforementioned fighters, he also beat Sakio Bika, who has never been stopped and Allan Green, who at the time was considered a top-flight fighter and had never suffered a stoppage.
Dawson has an equally impressive record. He beat the cagey future-first ballot Hall of Fame fighter Bernard Hopkins in his last outing, who, by the way, has never been close to being stopped in his career. He has also beaten former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver on two occasions, a fighter who has never been stopped. Another impressive name on Dawson’s resume is current heavyweight contender and former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek whose only knockout defeat came against heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.
With guys like that on their collective resumes, it’s no wonder that Ward and Dawson haven’t been knocking out opponents in recent fights. No one knocks those guys out.
Others will argue that both fighters are boring in the ring. I disagree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. I think that Ward is one of the best pure boxers in the game, but if good technical boxing isn’t your cup of tea, so be it.
Dawson is also no slouch when it comes to skill in the squared circle. With his height, long arms and southpaw style, he’s tough for any opponent to handle. Dawson, though, has been criticized in the past for fighting down to the level of his opposition, and I can’t disagree with that statement.
Ward will look to make this a fight on the inside at close quarters because from the outside, Dawson could pick him apart with his long southpaw jab. This fight will be ugly at times if Ward is able to fight his fight, but it should in no way be boring. The fight has a good chance of going all 12 rounds, but both Ward and Dawson have tasted the canvas before so a knockout is not out of the question.
On September 8th Dawson and Ward will have no choice but to bring their best to the ring. This fight will have huge implications on their careers and could propel one of them to the notoriety that has eluded both to this point. I, for one, think this fight has the chance to be fight of the year because when fighters of this level are matched, usually great things happen.
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