A guy who beat up on old men but got exposed versus the younger lions or a noteworthy champion of his era who doesn't get his due? He did beat Adamek but CW was his best weight..
Excellent but unsatisfying champion. Hopkins, Tarver and Johnson all were top 5 opponents when he fought them. He got the first clear victory over Hopkins since the early 90s. Plus Adamek, as an underdog. Never ducked anyone. As champion, went to Montreal to fight Pascal and Stevenson in their backyards. Admittedly he had little choice, but that shows balls. Dropped down to 168 for Ward and didn't insist on a catchweight. But didn't like contact. He was a fun and Aggressive young fighter, but Johnson I took the starch out of him. He stopped throwing combinations and became too defense minded.
Great start cleared out dawson Johnson and adamek He laid an egg vs Pascal He got another chance at the big time vs bhop and won a clear decision in a statement type win. However Hopkins wound up out lasting him In hindsight the wipeout to Stevenson isn't the horrible embarrassment it was at the time I'd say he slightly underperformed his potential but still had a solid career
Oh dear, where do I start and how do I end this... Dawson is truly a sad case. He’s extremely talented but unbelievably frustrating to watch. He’s the type of fighter that would hurt his opponent and then immediately take the round off without following up. I would grind through my teeth watching him fight and, I hate to say this, but I’m glad I don’t need to anymore.
In terms of all-time light heavyweight champions, despite being a guy with some REALLY big-name wins on his ledger, I get the feeling he won't be viewed too highly. Dawson's fall was so swift and complete. It was kind of jarring. It's difficult to know where to place him. He was a solid champ, but he was more workmanlike than entertaining. Sort of in the category with respected but not really dynamic champs like Mate Parlov, maybe. I heard Dawson's fighting again in a couple weeks. If he keeps going and keeps losing, that probably won't help. We'll see.
Like a more accomplished Andre Dirrell. Had some good wins but just lacked the intangibles needed to really leave his mark.
That little era where he was fighting Johnson and Tarver and giving them rematches was a lot of fun. Very impressive win over Hopkins as well. That first Hopkins fight was pathetic. Hopkins faking an injury to go home early. Loved Bad Chad Dawson
His stock will rise due to how underrated he is today. You’re legit if you beat Tarver x2, Hopkins, Adamek, and Johnson. It turned out that Adamek was better than everyone thought and Tarver and Hopkins would continue having some success despite being old. Kovalev doesn’t even have wins like that.
The guy had a lot of tough fights. He took on anyone a lot of tough guys, had a lot of wars. I think that took a toll. The body can only take so much.
He didn't recover well from his losses. Cutting down to 168 getting beat down by Ward and poleaxed in 1 by Stevenson upon returning to 175 pretty much ended him. He was the man for a brief period though so probably shouldn't be too harsh on him. Good fighter who had a rapid fall.
One of the most physically talented boxers of the 2000's, also a sleepwalker and despite the fact that he was the de-facto man for roughly 6-7 years at LHW, he was actually an underachiever given what a supremely focused (in and out the ring) version could've accomplished given his talent level.
