Ward-Dawson thread

[Sugar Floyd Louis]

Cagey start..

[Sugar Floyd Louis]

Dawson coming on

[Sugar Floyd Louis]

*sigh* looks like I'm going to discuss this fight with myself. Dawson took round 2!

[Sugar Floyd Louis]

Great K.O from Ward!

[Sugar Floyd Louis]

Ward needs to finish this

[WHU_Champo_League_in_7Yrs]

It's being discussed on the other thread for the entire night

[BoomBoomBaby]

Dawson is to slow and Ward's left is way to fast...Only going to be one winner here

[Sugar Floyd Louis]

Thing is he started so well

[88Chris05]

This has been a sensational performance by Ward. Loved it.

[BoomBoomBaby]

I imagine it will be put down to Dawson being weight drained

[88Chris05]

All over in the tenth - Dawson took an absolute hammering there.

Im in awe at how good Ward was tonight. We're looking at a great, great fighter here. Hopefully a few more people will believe it now.

[Sugar Floyd Louis]

Ward deserves to be the P4P king in my opinion.

[88Chris05]

Couldn't really argue too much with that, SFL. I think Mayweather still has the advantage in the race for that particular honour, and Donaire to some extent too, but Ward should be in consideration for it at the very, very least.

As for the weight issue. Well, no doubt some will point to it, but it's not as if Dawson looked like a drawn man in there - he was appreciably the bigger guy. I'd have preferred this fight at 175 lb, but there's no need for Ward to return the favour up at 12-7, for me. I think we saw enough tonight to suggest that Dawson hasn't got a prayer against Ward, be it at Super-Middle or Light-Heavy.

[joeyjojo618]

Who does have a prayer against him Chris?

[Seanusarrilius]

No one at 168 has a prayer versus Ward. No one. And at 175 it would only be interesting because ward is stepping up. That was the most perfect performance I have seen from a fighter against top opp in years.

And I am no Ward lover!! He was everything you could hope for tonight. Dawson quit and I don't blame him. That could have become a career ending beating

[BallchinianMuffwig]

CALZAGHE *runs away after opening the can of worms*

[Atila]

CALZAGHE *runs away after opening the can of worms*

Are you saying that Calzaghe who has been retired for a few years now could still beat Ward?

[BallchinianMuffwig]

nah I've always thought ward who is an expert at measuring distance, would beat JC although Im a fan of the welshman.

[davidemore]

Jesus, Dawson got smoked. How many zero landed punches rounds were there? This guys more inactive than a corpse in there.

[zx1234]

Ward deserves to be the P4P king in my opinion.

he's got a decent shout, it may be a bit too early just yet, maybe if he had a fight at light heavy vs pascal/cloud i'd be ore convinced.

what i don't get is why martinez is ranked number 3 above donaire and ward, i'd have ward at number 3 after tonights win but for me donaire would leapfrog ward by beating nishioka who is not far off my top 10 p4p

[tunes666]

Ward is a great fighter...

But to be honest Dawson is very over rated. I could not see why people thought he was going to be such a hard fight for Ward.

My only niggle with Ward is it always seems to be on his terms, in his town, his weight.... so on... But there is no doubting his ability.

[davidemore]

True tunes, but he can't fight at home forever. Even JC left the UK, eventually.

[Imperial Ghosty]

Was a good performance of that there is no doubt but coming at 168lbs it takes a lot of shine off the victory as Dawson looked very weak and vulnerable at the weight, he's been in with big punchers than Ward and not struggled in the past.

[Soldier_Of_Fortune]

Was a good performance of that there is no doubt but coming at 168lbs it takes a lot of shine off the victory as Dawson looked very weak and vulnerable at the weight, he's been in with big punchers than Ward and not struggled in the past.

This....

Dawson did look woeful, probs the worst I have seen him and that is including Pascal. But Ward does derserve credit, he did what he had to to and got the stoppage. I would have liked to have seen this fight at 175.

Think its time for Ward to leave home, move up in weight and clean up there, there is no one for him to fight at 168

[BoxingFan88]

Great performance by Ward, Dawson looked great in the first two rounds, then Ward just took him apart. Dawson lost concentration like he always does.

[mobilemaster8]

Headbutts change fighs. I had it 10-10 in 1st amd 10-9 dawson in the 2nd. He was then headsmashed and was cut because of it. Then the fight was one way. Had he not been cut by a headbutt would it have been different? Maybe not. Dawson was not weight drained surely?? He looked in great shape.

What next for Ward?

Id love to see him go to nottingham and fight in his backyard. Then he has proved himself and justifies his p4p ranking.

Fighting at home with your head and elbows every month is nothing special

[mobilemaster8]

I meant fight froch in nottingham

[The genius of PBF]

Stop making excuses Ghosty you picked Dawson to beat Ward...Give Ward the credit he deserves.

[KingMonkey]

I love technical fighters like Dawson but flip my old boots he is one frustrating guy sometimes. Definitely looked drained at the weight but Ward really is something else, a real special fighter if not particularly exciting.

Ward definitely needs to move up to LH and fight out of the States but I guess he'll ask 'why should he'?. And realistically speaking who should he take on? Nobody out there right now can beat him.

[BoxingFan88]

Dawson would have lost at 175, he doesn't have one of the key ingredients to make it to the top of the elite, mental toughness.

Dawson is an exceptional talent, but he is wasting that talent unfortunately. He has a low work rate, only ever reacts to what another fighter does and has lapses in concentration during fights.

I love watching Ward fight, the way he takes people apart is just great the watch. Ward needs a challenge, he needs someone who can actually test him...

[tunes666]

True tunes, but he can't fight at home forever. Even JC left the UK, eventually.

True, and for some fighters it can certainly have an effect.

[TheMackemMawler]

Have to agree with Ghosty weight probably played some part in this.

Ward may have got the win but a stoppage would have been unlikely had they fought at 175lb.

Ward is not a concussive puncher so I find it hard to rationalise how he could knock down a fairly durable light heavyweight, other than losing weight effected Dawson's chin. Dawsons fault really, he should have insisted upon 175.

Credit to Ward though.

He would have won regardless of what weight they boxed at, though perhaps in a different manner .

[tunes666]

Have to agree with Ghosty weight probably played some part in this.

Ward may have got the win but a stoppage would have been unlikely had they fought at 175lb.

Ward is not a concussive puncher so I find it hard to rationalise how he could knock down a fairly durable light heavyweight, other than losing weight effected Dawson's chin. Dawsons fault really, he should have insisted upon 175.

Credit to Ward though.

He would have won regardless of what weight they boxed at, though perhaps in a different manner .

To his credit Ward has been talking about working on that part of his game and I think his power is under rated.. he has not always need to rely on power and so its easy to take the easy and safe option and just out box people.. But you even saw Froch feeling his punches who i think thought he would walk through them, and obviously found out otherwise.. with very quick boxers its usually the case that you sacrifice a bit of power for speed, and for a quick puncher I think he has more than enough bang.

[Imperial Ghosty]

I have never considered power to be something a 29 year old fighter could develop nor do I really think Froch felt his punches as much as he has other fighters. Were it a points decision I would have been left less skeptical of the weight issue which appears to have been highlighted by the stoppage.

[88Chris05]

I think Ward's power is perhaps underrated in some ways, but I still feel that stoppages such as last night's against Dawson will remain very much the exception rather than the rule for him in the future.

He's one of these fighters who isn't necessarily a big hitter, but who is very, very aggressive with what they do throw. And in fairness, it's not as if the likes of Kessler, Abraham and Froch are anything other than iron-chinned, either. They all hold a shot very well, so Ward failing to stop them is no real cause for alarm.

Still, it doesn't take a huge hitter to get stoppages as last night showed. Even at 175 lb, Dawson would have done well to see the final bell on last night's showing; Ward was catching him so cleanly almost every time. Dawson couldn't pick up the left hand from the off. I don't care how good a chin is, if someone's tagging it that frequently and accurately, you're likely to become a goner eventually.

[Bartley Gorman]

I'll firstly admit that i still haven't seen the fight. However, i wasn't surprised when i heard that Ward had stopped him.

What i was surprised with was that Ward, it seems, has received unadulterated adulation from the masses. They view this stoppage of a very talented fighter as a great achievement. I, on the other hand, do not.

This is just what i said would happen, Dawson would be unable to compete because of the weight. Those who say the weight had nothing to do with it, need only to look at Ward's KO record and the fact he hadn't stopped anybody else for 3 years!

Now, i rate Ward VERY highly, i think he's a fantastic fighter but i cant give him many props for this fight, i really cant, im just very disappointed that history will show a W over Dawson, when, for me, its a tainted victory.

Happy Monday one and all!

[BoxingFan88]

You need to watch the fight before calling it a "tainted" victory.

[Bartley Gorman]

You need to watch the fight before calling it a "tainted" victory.

Why?

My reasons for calling it tainted, have nothing to do with Ward's performance, which I have heard was a masterful one and i accept it as such.

[Herman Jaeger]

Another good day at the office for Ward, but you can't go over the top about the win. And of course the above poster is quite right, you can't mark it down as a stellar win, and ultimately it won't go down as a stellar win.

[eddyfightfan]

good win for ward, looked like a weak knock down to me dawson just didnt want it which was quite frustrating, there was only 2 rounds left, ward did show skills that where amazing but he just doesnt set the world alight does he, almost prefer watching the klitschkos than this guy, even the bout with froch was boring and he isnt in one of those very often.

ward should look for a quick opponent with a high work rate, could imagine ward vs alverez at 154 or even a catchweight as belter.

[Bartley Gorman]

good win for ward, looked like a weak knock down to me dawson just didnt want it which was quite frustrating, there was only 2 rounds left, ward did show skills that where amazing but he just doesnt set the world alight does he, almost prefer watching the klitschkos than this guy, even the bout with froch was boring and he isnt in one of those very often.

ward should look for a quick opponent with a high work rate, could imagine ward vs alverez at 154 or even a catchweight as belter.

At 154.....are you serious? He wont even fight out of his hometown let alone out of his weight class. Plus, going from 168 to 154 is practically impossible.

[Rodney]

Eddy think Ward would have to boil down to a Peter Crouch like body to make 154 mate and can't see any reason for him to fight Alvarez at anything below 168.

He is the main man, Alvarez has done little yet and Golden Boy wouldn't even dare fantasise about their young starlet getting in the ring to spar with Ward never mind fight him. Let's see if Canelo can clean out 154 then move to 160, leave Ward to the light heavy's mate.

Cheers Rodders

[Bartley Gorman]

You need to watch the fight before calling it a "tainted" victory.

OK, finally just watched the fight, at work haha, anyway, Dawson was so far under par that it was almost painful to watch. Regardless of what has been said since the fight, the weight CLEARLY played a major part.

If you disagree with that, you defo havent watched a Chad Dawson fight before!

[Boxtthis]

I have never considered power to be something a 29 year old fighter could develop nor do I really think Froch felt his punches as much as he has other fighters. Were it a points decision I would have been left less skeptical of the weight issue which appears to have been highlighted by the stoppage.

I don't think it's really the case that Ward doesn't have power. I just don't think he's used it all that much up until now. Saw this video from Nazim Richardson a few months ago and he was saying that Ward can really punch, and that he expects everyone to be surprised when he starts knocking people out:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLx-dPihFpA

A slight taint on this victory due to the weight, I agree. But, Ward has beaten a really top guy here in impressive fashion, and I think it's unfair to take too much away from him. I still don't think we've seen the best of him.

The question is: who the hell does he fight now? He's already beaten most of the top SMWs and KO'd the champion in the weight above!

[TopHat24/7]

Nothing left for him at 168. He needs to do like JC and move up a weight. Could become 2-weight world champ and undisputed p4p#1 and retire - all by the time he's 30!

[Boxtthis]

Nothing left for him at 168. He needs to do like JC and move up a weight. Could become 2-weight world champ and undisputed p4p#1 and retire - all by the time he's 30!

Move up in weight to fight who? Pascal, Cloud, Cleverly, Shumenov are the title holders. He'd be heavy, heavy favourite against each one. For me Dawson destroys Pascal in a rematch...and destroys all the other titleholders. Actually the toughest fight I see for Ward moving up is Dawson at 175 - which may be difficult to sell after this weekends pasting.

[TopHat24/7]

Prove 168 wasn't the issue by taking on Dawson at 175 having already beaten Pascal, puncher Cloud and maybe even old man Hoppo. Retire with that record and he'll be a top20 ATG easily, probs top15.

[Bartley Gorman]

Prove 168 wasn't the issue by taking on Dawson at 175 having already beaten Pascal, puncher Cloud and maybe even old man Hoppo. Retire with that record and he'll be a top20 ATG easily, probs top15.

Hopkins has already said he's never fight him as.."he's my little brother!" but other than that, i agree with what you've written about the list of opponents.

Not sure that beating them would put him in the top 20 of all time though.

[TopHat24/7]

Oh yeh, forgot that, saw it on twitter.

[TopHat24/7]

Given that PBF is top20 in pretty much everyone's lists, and 10-12 in some's, I don't think 15-20 is unrealistic.

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