Well Donaire's win over Darchinyan is much much better than any of Dawson's, but that's not really the point. I agree that Dawson is far superior to Caballero, but how many boxing fans would seriously have Caballero in their top 10!?!? Dawson is yet to prove himself the man is one of boxings weakest divisions (granted, not his fault Hops wont fight him). 2 wins over past prime and only ever average Tarver, and 2 wins (one questionable) over Johnson don't do it for me. His win over Adamek was good, but I'm not sure he was comfortable at the weight. What sets him apart from the Klits, Haye, Kessler, Abraham, Bradley, Soto, John, Guzman??? Maybe I'm missing someting but his resume is thin to me. Very talented, but yet to really show it against any credible opposition IMO.
I dont know what five rounds the judges could have possibly found for Johnson. Great performance by Dawson, although he had the customary two rounds where he just did nothing. I think he looked bored he was dominating Johnson so easily and I think his post-fight comments confirmed it where he said something to the effect "I just wanted to get through this guy so that I can get some new opponents past the the Tarvers and Johnsons."
I thought Johnson could've taken 2 rounds, but I was surprised that a couple of judges had it as close as they did. JOhnson was pretty clearly outclassed from the opening bell, despite him being an absolute pro and a warrior. Dawson just doesn't seem to have a finish button, he doesn't sustain the offensives he mounts. He does enough to win, but not in a loud fashion.
Boooooorrrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnngggggggggggg:tired.. I almost fell asleep 3x.. Dawson for being 27, has little power and not much agression, reminds me of Pernell Whitaker... I knew this fight was going to the cards after the 1 st round.. Thats why more people are going to mma-ufc they wanna see someone getting KTFO not some ****ing decision..
I agree with you on all counts here. Dawson's a good fighter who I believe has become HBO's next top target to hype into a superstar, and he represents the network's biggest bet at that angle since they tried it with Jermain Taylor. It's clear by the commentary on Chad's fights and his ratings nowadays what HBO's plans are for him; the only problem from their standpoint is that too many fans still aren't buying it.
I would love to see Dawson vs Pascal. He'll make Dawson work harder. It would be the light heavyweight version of Judah vs Mayweather.
WTF is wrong with Johnson's corner? Besides all the things Dawson was doing, I thought one of the biggest reasons he lost rounds in the 1st fight was that he followed Dawson instead of cutting off the ring. In this fight, he did the same thing. Not once in either fight did I hear Johnson's corner tell him to cut off the ring & stop following Dawson around.
Easier said than done. Johnson looked slower than usual. Maybe he got tired, he is in his 40s. Its pretty hard trying to cut off the ring against a young great athlete like Dawson.
I'm not saying it would have been easy for the old warrior, but it seems like it wasn't even considered.