Dawson's Reek

Dawson's Reek

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http://www.nobsboxing.com/news_details.php?id=61

By Tauvington

Chad Dawson stood in desperation, looking like he'd just been stabbed above the eyes with a pair of scissors. It had already been a tough outing for the soon-to-be former world champion, to say the least, having struggled mightily through nine opening rounds of distress Saturday night against a surprisingly live 4-1 underdog opponent in Canadian title-holder Jean Pascal. Undeterred, the South Carolina native appeared to have started matching up a few pieces of the puzzle during the 10th and 11th frames, timing his adversary more effectively and letting his hands go with less reluctance. The late success that "Bad" Chad was enjoying, however, became short-lived by way of a staggering clash of heads. His fate, cruel as ever, was sealed as his skin was ripped open. With blood now streaming down the lines of his swelling face during the scorecard tallies, Dawson's night at the Bell Centre in Montreal was over...and moments later, so were his days as an unbeaten prizefighter.

There's a part of me deep down that genuinely revels in every opportunity I'm given to witness an undefeated, highly-regarded scrapper's professional cherry get popped on national television, even if it's a guy I like who's losing to someone I don't particularly care for. It's not that I get off on watching other people's egos being deflated, either. I just find it extraordinarily interesting to see how a star athlete--someone who's constantly being told how great he is by all of his hangers-on--is going to handle the frustration and humiliation of that initial defeat...especially in a testosterone-driven, mano-a-mano fight sport like boxing. How is he going to conduct himself when this is over? What will his posture look like while they're interviewing him? What is he going to say? Losing crushes your heart, but it's a pill that anyone who sticks around the game long enough is eventually going to have to swallow. You learn plenty about a guy as a fighter the first time he's forced to deal with serious adversity in the ring, sure, but you find out more about him as a MAN by how he carries himself after the ringside announcer finishes cementing the first truly humbling experience of his career on the microphone to the rest of the world. It's like getting a taste of the fighter's humanity, to some small degree.

Chad Dawson sincerely disappointed me on Saturday night, and it had absolutely nothing to do with his performance--as listless as it mostly seemed--against Jean Pascal. Hey, **** happens, right? He couldn't figure a crafty opponent out in time, and his record took a hit. One loss surely isn't going to bring the sky down with it. That post-fight interview of his, on the other hand? Simply embarrassing--difficult for me to even sit through, actually. Dawson couldn't have possibly made a bigger fool out of himself if he'd tried. I didn't expect much from the kid, but I'll admit I was at least hoping for more than a long string of ridiculous sentence fragments littered with arrogant, delusional excuses and claims that contradicted each other ad nauseum. He really let out the jackass inside of him during that segment. I understand he was upset, but Christ, regardless of whether or not he had a legitimate gripe, that young man could have still shown just a hint of humility and class in his tone. Whatever did happen to understated class, Chad?

"I'm not going to take anything away from him..."

"He was headbutting all night..."

"I'm not making any excuses..."

"He was holding and hitting..."

"I didn't complain--not one time..."

"Before he headbutted me and the fight got stopped, I had him hurt..."

"I'm not making any excuses..."

Larry Merchant is a curmudgeon, and at times, even an outright *****, but I was glad to see him dog Dawson a little bit for all of the pitiful double talk that came out of his mouth. He didn't care enough to even bother acknowledging the pissy gibberish that Dawson shot back at him, either. Larry didn't need to overstate his point--It stood on it's own. Chad Dawson is just another guy with a collection of title belts and a big head in that long line of gracious winners who can't or won't demonstrate the same type of solid character when the cards don't fall their way. It's disheartening, of course, but that type of self-involved mindset seems practically commonplace among the sport's athletes--particularly it's elite athletes. As a fan, I suppose you just have to take the good with the "Bad", so to speak.