I've been watching Dawson fights without the sounds on (a.k.a. no Jim Lampley cheerleading) and I've come to the conclusion this guy is not really as special as some people make him out to be. He has good range and athletism. He is very mature and clinical about what he does. But he doesn't have a great jab. He doesn't move forward well. His movement isn't what its made out to be (he often squares up while moving away from opponents). The biggest problem that I see for him with respect to the Supper Six winner (which I expect to be Ward) is that he reallly and I mean really lacks any kind of mean streak or rough edge to his fight game. This has been eluded to by many people on his this site (hell his own dam fans eluded to it when they booded him against Johnson). But i never really thought much of these claims because being a boxing fan I always really appreciated his boxing and was never bore by him as a result. But watching him with the sounds off his in ring persona becomes very evident. He's just not a fighter that easily summons any kinda of killer instinct. And against Ward, a fighter with plenty of it thats a significant disadvantage.
So when are you guessing that Kessler or Abraham fought at light heavy? I'm guessing that Abraham was a middleweight when Adamek was a LHW, and that neither Kessler nor Abraham have ever been LHW's. I'm going to go ahead and take it a step further, in fact. I am also guessing that Abraham nor Kessler will CERTAINLY never fight as heavyweights, unlike Adamek, the heavyweight.
I don't think the poster was intending to imply that the fights were going to happen now (hence the use of the past tense 'would have'). When Kessler was considered number one at SMW there was discussion of how he would do stepping up to fight the top LHWs (of which Adamek was one for some of that time). It's quite likely that Kessler will fight at LHW at some point but, obviously Adamek is long gone from there now. Abraham is more of a stretch, given his size. Nobody of saying that Kessler or Abraham are going to fight at heavyweight or that Adamek is going to return to light heavyweight.
I get the past tense thing. What I am implying is that the size difference would have been ridiculous then, now, or at any time of their respective careers. No?
The size difference would have been a problem for Kessler with his style. But there's hardly anything outrageous about considering a top SMW fighting a top LHW. In fact that's the exact premise of this thread. Personally I never considered Abraham v Adamek even hypothetically at that time.
That may be the premise, but it is a bad analogy. Dawson was once a SMW, and is now a LHW, who you yourself thinks can come back down to SMW. Adamek was once a LHW, and is now a HW, who you yourself just admitted....is never coming back down. Furthermore, Adamek was never a SMW.
Pretty sure if you had suggested in 2007 that Adamek would end up at HW people would have laughed at you. I'm fairly sceptical about Dawson ever actually fighting at 168 btw, I just also don't see the 'he struggles to make 175 and will be at CW within a couple of years'. I'm sure he could weigh in less than 175 if needed, but I treat his 'I can make 168 statements' much the same as Paul Williams claims to be a WW - not proven until it actually happens.
I would have laughed at anybody suggesting Pacquiao ruling the welterweight division back then too. Wanting to have seen Adamek vs. Kessler, in hindsight, would be similar to wanting to have seen Pacquiao vs. Montiel.
isnt that just muddying waters, why have a contest to crown 'the man' @ 168 and then ask them to move up a division.
Just about every fighter in every weight class is inevitably moving up anyway. Not literally, but in general.
Good post and I agree. The main thing that worries me about Dawson is that he has no active way of setting up his offensive work, which would cause serious problems against an intelligent defensive operator with a sense of range like Ward.