Adrian "The Shark" DIACONU v. Chad "Bad" DAWSON ~ ANALYSIS and PREDICTION Thread ~

I'll go out on a limb here and say Dawson wins in a boring fight that looks sort of like a more skilled version of Dirrell-Stevens. Dawson keeps him on the outside, potshots, runs, counters when Diaconu tries to bumrush him. I don't know how well Diaconu will handle facing a southpaw at all (as far as I know, he's never fought a decent one), but it's not usually something that comes naturally. Huge reach advantage for Dawson. Will be lots of ineffective punches coming from Dawson hitting his high guard, but I think he'll be on his horse and Diaconu won't be able to catch him all night.

In the alternative, if Dawson decides not to run, I still think he'll win, but Diaconu will have a puncher's chance. If Dawson stays inside, he'll be pounding the body a lot early, because of Diaconu's high guard, and because of his reach advantage he'll be able to hit the ribs behind the guard. When Diaconu opens up, Dawson can counter. If Dawson gets sloppy, I wouldn't be surprised if his back hits the mat, but he's shown an ability to recover quickly.

 

Boxing masterclass by Dawson. Diaconu is a boxer puncher, and doesn't provide the effective pressure that will be needed to wear down Dawson. The fact that he fights in spurts suits Dawson to a tee. Dawson will thoroughly out box him from the outside, and much like Adamek, Diaconu will find it difficult to close the distance. Providing effective constant pressure to a southpaw fighter often means eating a lot of punches. Diaconu doesn't have the workrate to bother Dawson, and he doesn't possess the defence to get inside without getting tagged. His power is decent, and there is a possibility he could catch Dawson napping and hurt him. But most likely scenario is that Dawson keeps him off rythm by pumping the jab. Then starts tagging him with combinations and hard counters as the bout progresses. Most likely is a Dawson UD, although i could see a late stoppage happening here also, if Diaconu starts getting desperate.

 

Diaconu isn't a great fighter, i can't understand all the love on this forum.... Much like Bute as well, Diaconu will end up being a great gatekeeper in the division, maybe even a belt holder at one stage. But he will never be a dominant force, and will be well beaten by the top guys. The biggest thing working in his favour currently, is the weak state of the light heavyweight division.

 

Wow, didn't take long to start sucking on Diaconu's nuts again, eh, Decebel?

He looked like **** in his last fight.

He has overrated power, his record proves this. Rico Hoye ain't **** and never was ****, he was a hype job, as Clinton Woods ALREADY proved before Diaconu ever ate them leftovers.