It has begun. Calzaghe: "Chad Dawson is a good fighter"

You can't compare Bute and Dawson's competition though. Dawson has already beat 3 Top Light Heavyweights where as Bute cannot say the same thing. Hell, I'm not even convinced Bute could beat Kessler at this moment. Those 3 guys best wins you mentioned are against....err...um...I think you get the point. Not to take anything away from Andrade, but he is not top Supermiddleweight material. Now, he's not a bad fighter, but certainly doesn't belong in the Top Supermiddleweight category.

 

This is classic spin. I'm a Lacy fan, but please.

Reid was there for a payday, Sheika was past it and so was Vanderpool.

1) Reid: Declined. After the Ottke robbery in 2003, fought once in 2004 and then had a tuneup in 2005 prior to Lacy the same year when he was stopped. This is Lacy's best win. Post-Lacy, he fought twice in 2007, most recently losing to Froch.

2) Sheika: Severely faded. Lost consecutive fights to Pemberton -- including by KO in 2004, the same year he fought Lacy and lost via decision. Hadn't won a meaningful bout since Glen Johnson in 2000. Post-Lacy, fought once in 2005 and once in 2007.

3) Vanderpool: Had worked his way into a title shot against Lacy through the back door. Lacy stopped him for the vacant IBF belt, and Vanderpool was stopped in his next bout by Berrio. He then retired. No good wins since Johnson in 2000.

Dawson:

1) Adamek: Dominant decision victory over a prime, undefeated LHW. Dawson was the underdog in this fight. Post-Dawson, Adamek has won four fights at CW and stopped O'Neill Bell, and now he gets his shot against Cunningham.

2) Tarver: Had looked awful against Jones (III), Hopkins and a couple tuneups, but he dominated Clinton Woods just prior to Dawson. Clear and impressive victory for Chad.

3) Johnson: Has fought everyone and been competitive against nearly everyone. Dawson survived a fight that could have gone either way against a guy who was more proven, busy and viable than anyone Lacy had fought at that point, with the possible exception of Reid, and that's dubious.

4) Harding: Faded, but Ring top 10 at the time. Easy win for Chad. This was in 2006, and Harding hasn't fought since. Lacy has better wins on his record than this, but again, Harding was Ring top 10.

As usual, Decebal, your arguments lean heavy on baseless speculation and distortion. ("Dawson would have gotten taken out by Johnson! Dawson got put on his ass against a guy he dominated for 10 rounds!")

 

True, you cannot, but I was being generous to Dawson!

Bute beat three live, hungry, prime, dangerous SMWs, one of whom almost KOed him, but still beat the count, proving his chin and toughness and boxing skills, whereas Dawson ducked his mandatory challenger so that his chin couldn't be exposed, beat a weightdrained guy who put him on his arse, a shot to bits 37 year old and another faded 39 year-old who gave him the scare of his life and almost had him out twice!

 

Please, Bute would have NO CHANCE against Calzaghe lol. I can't believe you are even mentioning Bute lol. Plus Bute is at 168 anyway. Cal will probably take the Dawson fight and make it his last fight. IMO Bute can't beat Kessler.

 

Hilarious, Decebal.

Bute beats three gatekeepers -- and I like all of those guys, but let's be real -- at 168 and now he has a claim to fight Calzaghe at LIGHTHEAVYWEIGHT???????

Calzaghe no longer fights at 168, and Bute has zero accomplishment at 175. And yet, he deserves to fight Calzaghe over Dawson. :nut

I do like Bute and would love to see him fight Kessler, but Joe Calzaghe is a name that doesn't need to come out of Bute's mouth.

 

How does that prove Bute's chin is better though? He still got knocked down and was way way more hurt than Dawson was when he got knocked down by Adamek. Ilove the weight drain excuses though. Apparently if you are a power puncher and you are weight drained, you automatically become a feather fisted puncher. Dawson'ts style was all wrong for Adamek. He couldn't handle the speed nor the movement from Dawson. You know, I don't think Tarver is shot, but I do agree that he isn't as good as he was a few years ago, but he is still a very dangerous fighter and would give top lightheavyweights problems. Funny thing about Johnson is though he may be 39 years old, he sure doesn't fight like it. He's durbale as hell and comes straight at you for 12 rounds non-stop He's given every top Lightheavyweight in the world problems since he's moved up and continues to do so. That's not what I call a faded fighter.

 

Are you serious with your posting? Dawson didn't duck anyone. ducking is where you have to fight someone and you don't. Dawson made the fight with Gianconman, and the conman bakced out because of injury. What, Dawson has to keep on trying to make a fight with a guy in his home town or home country when he has the titles? I can't believe the mess that is spilling out of your mouth. You expect any sane fan to believe Dawson ducked Dianconman? :nut

 

Post like thses are the reason why you're quickly becoming the laughing stock of ESB.:-(

 

Look, my point was that you can spin things any which way you want to. Dawson is very good but he is not so far above (if at all) all the other fighters who deserve a shot at Calzaghe that Calzaghe should feel he simply has to put his retirement plans aside, just to fight Dawson and Dawson alone, as many people here claim.

If you don't want to respect Calzaghe, don't! But don't make silly respect claims just to convince me that Calzaghe simply has to fight Dawson to gain respect.

BTW, if you think Tarver is not shot or that Bute doesn't have a very good chin, there's no point us continuing this conversation! You need to watch the fights first.

 

lol, why would any FAN suggest that a fighter ducked or is ducking another fighter? These fans truly think a fighter is afraid to fight another fighter...comical! Boxing comes down to money. If it doesn't make dollars, it doesn't make sense.

 

He should hang em up,i'd have had him retire two fights back!

 

Bute better give Andrade another shot before he even thinks about Calzaghe. You can continue to point out Dawson's flaws, but we all have seen Bute's flaws.

 

Not with equal validity, you can't. Arguing that Bute deserve the fight with Calzaghe over Dawson is foolish. Not just on merit, but also in terms marketing (i.e., neither is a draw).

The only meaningful fight for Calzaghe is Dawson. No one wants to see Calzaghe/Hopkins II, or Calzaghe/Kessler II.

If Joe calls it quits, more power to him. He certainly doesn't need to fight Dawson. But if he does choose to fight on, then Chad is the only guy who makes sense. Anything else would be a joke.

 

I want him to unify LHW division, lets Joe beat Dawson then Erdei and do what Jones never properly did.

 

:good Thats spot on...Calzaghe is already proven he doesnt need Dawson, Chad needs him and needs to look impressive doing it. Calzaghe is not in his prime but he is far from shot and still the best out there. Dawson i feel is almost at his peak but not quite there and to the public is still a fight or two away from being proven. In actuallity i personally think Dawson should rematch Johnson or fight someone else b4 stepping in with Calzaghe. Calzaghe is known for derailing careers, (Lacy, Kessler). At the same time though Dawson is no Lacy and i feel he would beat Kessler. It will be a good fight and if its made Dawson better be ****in hungry and ready to go to war if he wants to win becuz we already kno Calzaghe will be.