Dawson v Ward and will Chad ever fulfill his potential?

Hats off to him, he beat Hopkins fair and square and no one looks good doing that

But I must say, I find it hard to imagin him ever truly fulfill his potential.

He still lulls in fights far too much when with his dfitness he should be constantly working.
He also let Hopkins knock him off his game too readily for my liking.

Dawson has some tremendous attributes but I just don't see him making the most of them in the ring.

Ward would bully him around the ring on his way to a UD IMO, and what Chad is doing talking about moving downt o 168, I do not know. Catchweight or nothing Chad, surely.

I totally agree with this. The tools are there with Dawson he just seems to be lazy and never really seems like he wants it. If he really wanted to he could be amongst the P4P guys.

Agreed, he just wont get there IMO, something is missing. Ward would exploit this too and if that fight ever happens I would expext a Ward UD. Chad just lacks that instinct needed to become a great, but has so many tools

I agree but I don't think ward will bully him. Dawson is the bigger man and while he lulls about, he won be bullied. Ward will go up to 175 if they fight. He can it into the weight alot easier than Gavin Dawson come down especially as ward won his gold medal at light heavyweight

Physically and technically nothing is wrong with Dawson he just seems lazy and never really seems like he has the hunger for success.

If the Ward fight does happen then I couldn't see anything other than a Ward pretty wide UD. Hopkins seemed to get under Dawsons skin but we still never seen real desire to win he still takes rounds off. Laziness seems to be a problem.

I'm not sure if it's actual laziness persay, as he always comes in the ring as if he's done a very solid training camp, I just think he lacks that extra something, that killer instinct, that quick mindedness to make something big happen, fantastic tools and an insane amount of ability, but I agree I just don't think we'll ever see that extra bit of fire that is possible from him, just not in his mindset perhaps.

I think Mayweather said "He's the most talented American fighter... After me."

I think it depends what potential you think Dawson has. He can look sluggish times but if you look at his record at the weight, its actually quite extensive and contains only one blip. Tarver x 2, Johnson x 2, Adamek, Diaconu and now Hopkins. Thats not bad reading for a guy whos not yet 30.

In fairness, it's not as if Dawson has underachieved so far, per se. He's taken care of business at Light-Heavyweight fairly well, the slip up against Pascal aside. He's picked up a few belts, beaten a few world champions and, you'd imagine, has a good few years left in which he can add to all of that. I do, however, have a suspicion that he doesn't like it up him, which is why I'd certainly back Ward to take a decision if they ever meet.

If there's going to be a turning point in this respect, then it must happen now. He's just beaten the man who has all the tricks in the book, who fights ugly, who spoils, who can rough it with the best of them and who makes boxing against him a truly torrid affair for any opponent. I thought Dawson seemed a little lacking in this regard when he faced Pascal, who basically roughed him up a little and made him work when it seemed as if he didn't want to. Once he didn't have full control at rage, he seemed to cave in a little and only sprung in to action once the cut began to put the outcome of the fight in danger.

If his showing against Hopkins is anything to go by, he's perhaps learned his lessons. Perhaps.

I genuinely do think that Ward is something special, though. I don't really see him being the 'smaller man' so to speak if he were to challege Dawson at 175 lb, given that Chad was a Middleweight to start with and that Ward was a supreme amateur at Light-Heavyweight. In my eyes, Ward has just about the most complete skill set in the sport at the moment, Mayweather aside. If he continues to hone those skills he's going to be incredibly tough to beat.

I suspect he may just be a little too robust and relentless for Dawson, who is yet to convince me he can box at pace for twelve rounds, as well as being his equal (at least) in the technical perspective. It's one for the purists, of course, but if Ward were to get past the Bute-Froch winner then a fight with Dawson becomes a natural progression, with the winner having a real claim to true 'great' status.

If Pascal comes through his fight with Cloud, which I expect him to do, there should definitely be Dawson vs Pascal II.

Pascal exposed Dawson a bit IMO. Ward by dull decision (like always)