Chad Dawson Dethroned

From Montreal, Canada, at The Bell Center, Gary Shaw Productions in association with Videotron, and sponsored by The Casino of Montreal. On “HBO World Championship Boxing,” 27-year-old Jean Pascal (26-1, 16KOs) defended his WBC title with an upset over 28-year-old “Bad” Chad Dawson (29-1, 17KOs), to claim Dawsons IBO title becoming the Ring Magazine WBC/IBO light heavyweight world champion.

Though Chad Dawson was the undisputed light heavyweight kingpin (175lbs), he has been trying to establish himself as an elite fighter among the worlds very best for some time. Chad has flew under the radar and is largely unknown with the exception to boxing aficionado’s.

While “Bad” Chad has great technical skills and can bang, he has had difficulty acquiring a following due to his judicious nature in the ring. Evident with the fact that Dawson was making the trip to his opponents home turf in Montreal, Canada, where his opponent, Canadian Jean Pascal, has a big following as opposed to Dawson’s small fan base in his hometown of New Haven, Conn, and elsewhere.

To Dawson’s credit he ducks no one and is willing to make concessions to get big fights and make a name for himself. When most men in his spot rest on their laurels, Dawson continues to go after foe’s, not waiting for them to come to him.

Though Dawson may not be rendering opponents unconscious while fans question his killer instinct, Dawson stated before the fight, “I do got the killer instinct but I just like to do it in fashion.” He added, “some people say I need to start knocking guys out, but you know, until that times comes you know, I’m 29-0, nobody has beat me yet.” These setiments ring true and actions always speak louder than words, and Chad’s actions speak for themselves.

Dawson, the 4-to-1 betting favorite showed a lot of confidence in his ability going to Canada, as we all know how difficult it has been in recent times for boxers to get victories in their opponent’s home city. The pugilist were ranked #1 and #2 in the division, both owning titles, with Dawson atop, in a time when it’s difficult to wrangle any divisions two best into the ring opposite eachother.

The combatants looked very evenly matched as they mirrored eachother in age, record, and knockouts. Chad and Jean are only seperated by four months in age, and going into the fight Dawson was (29-0, 17KOs) and Pascal was (25-1, 16KOs). The lone separation between the two was Pascal’s defeat at the hands of Carl Froch for the WBC super middleweight title.

Pascal, who as mentioned earlier had only one blemish on his resume coming in thanks to Carl Froch, had rebounded well with a decision victory over Adrian Diaconu claiming the WBC light heavyweight strap. Then in the rematch with Diaconu, Pascal showed a ton of heart while staying placid and calm when he separated his shoulder three different times during the fight. Pascal’s shoulder was forced back in to place and Jean went on to claim a unanimous decision win.

Before the Dawson fight, Pascal was quoted as saying, “I know I’m the underdog, he’s a great fighter but I’m not going to give an inch, it’s time for me to step up and I’m ready.”

Chad entered the arena to a fitting song, Eminems “Not Afraid”, and Chad made his intro into hostile territory looking very poised, as he received boo’s from the pro Pascal crowd. Pascal delayed in entering the Arena and made Chad, who made no qualms about entering the ring first, wait for him. The Canadian Pascal entered to a light show and adoring fans, as the lead-up to the first punch was live and exciting.

The crafty IBO titlist Dawson, came forward from the outset shooting jabs and left-hands while Pascal was tentative, moving backwards as he circled to his left. Chad was using his height and reach making it hard for Pascal to get his hands going, causing the Canadian to run in and lunge forward swinging wildly trying to get close. Pascal found some success at the end of round-one with crisp overhand rights and hooks, and seemed to steal the round.

The Canadian crowd would go wild everytime Pascal delivered a flashy punch, whether they were landing or not. Forty-five seconds into the 2nd, Pascal landed a hard right uppercut followed by a straight-right penetrating the middle of Chad’s high guard. Dawson was using a conservative methodical approach and most of his punches were being deflected by Pascal’s gloves. “Bad” Chad kept doubling over leaning forward, and Pascal took advantage of it through the first two episodes landing very hard right uppercuts and hooks to the mouth of Dawson. Going into the 3rd, Pascal was commanding the speed and distance of the contest.

The tough-gloved Pascal was using good lateral movement and combinations to the body and head as he landed the more aggressive thudding strikes. Starting the 4th, Dawson landed a hard right hook that got the attention of Pascal who slowed significantly. Pascal finished the round strong, maybe stealing it again when he landed a firm straight-right to the kisser of Dawson.

“Bad” Chad was the busier fighter, firing jabs and combinations consisting of straight-lefts and right hooks up high and down low, but Pascal’s land-rate was equal as he connected with the more powerful meaningful punches.

Dawson came forward through out, battling judiciously while reluctant to let his hands fly in toe-to-toe action. On numerous occasions Chad would win the first two minutes of a round with jabs and technical combinations (though nothing noteworthy or exciting), then would let up and let Pascal steal the last minute, and round, with aggressive powerful punches to the head.

Dawson got a rhythm going, landing at a higher rate as the scrap entered the mid-rounds, but at 1:52 of the 7th, Pascal shot out a thudding straight-right that caught Dawson on the chin hurting him and forcing him to retreat and clinch. At 1:31 Pascal shot another straight-right through the guard of Dawson, hitting his chin again and buckling his legs as he was against the ropes. Dawson fought back throwing combinations to the body but connected with three or four low blows causing referee Michael Griffin to warn him for fouling. Pascal slowed and didn’t unleash much offensive for the rest of the round possibly due to the low blows, of which Dawson landed a few more before the sequence subsided.

Inbetween rounds 7 and 8 Dawson complained to his trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammed that he injured his shoulder, later to be confirmed as his right-shoulder.

All through the bout Pascal would periodically slow down and take breaks due to the exertion of his powerful combination flurries, and Dawson allowed this not taking advantage of his opponents lulls. At :55 seconds of the 8th, while Chad was working the body with his hands down, Pascal landed a devastating lead right that hurt Dawson again, this time badly, causing him to clinch. Pascal connected with a few more big right-hands to flesh out the round while Dawson was operating under unstable legs.

“Bad Chad” entered the 9th on faint lower limbs and after he was hit with some hard right hooks to the torso and a big right to the top of the head, he was wobbled against the ropes trying to slip and weave. Dawson regained composure, threw up his hands, then came forward and landed his first big bomb on Pascal, a right hook to the jaw line followed by a left hook to the top of Jean’s head causing the winded Canadian to retreat. Chad seemed to realize he was going to have to betray his conservative style and let his hands go, which he did. Towards the end of the 9th, Dawson threw a barrage of right hooks to the head and body with numerous hard straight-lefts. After absorbing the punishment Pascal brushed it off as though it was nothing, but clearly it was something. Dawson let up though not following up on some of his best work of the fight.

Pascal came back hard in the 10th, punishing dawson’s torso with many body shots. Going into the championship rounds it appeared Dawson needed a knockout to win, especially in Canada, and needed to summon the “Bad” in Chad, which seemed unlikely given Dawson’s track record.

Dawson came out like a warrior in the 11th, and landed two huge lead-lefts backing Pascal into the ropes where Chad unleashed a barrage of bone-crushing body and head shots with both hands, hurting Pascal as he ran across the ring to get away from the onslaught. Pascal looked ready to hit the canvas at any moment and with Jean’s back against the ropes, Chad fired off about twenty unanswered punches until Pascal clutched his opponent holding on for dear life.

But once again, when Pascal only needed to stay on his feet to win, and was hurt badly ready to go, Dawson let him off the hook halting his attack allowing Pascal to recover. With 1:15 to go in the 11th, Dawson landed a big left uppercut from a hooking angle that stopped Pascal dead in his tracks stiffening his legs. Then as Dawson was attacking he lunged forward and the boxers heads clashed unintentionally and immdeiately a severe cut that was gushing blood opened up over Dawson’s right-eye.

Referee Michael Griffin had the ringside doctor investigate the cut, who to the dismay of Chad and Mustafa Muhammed, quickly stopped the contest after viewing Dawson’s vicious cut. Pascal, who looked like he was very close to being knocked out any moment, without delay jumped on the corner ropes throwing his hands in the air to declare victory.

When the score cards were read Pascal wad indeed the victor with scores of 108-101 and 106-103 twice, for the unanimous technical decision victory, claiming Ring Magazine’s top spot and Dawson’s IBO light heavyweight title, while successfully defending his WBC light heavyweight belt. Making Jean Pascal the WBC/IBO and Ring Magazine light heavyweight world champion while improving to (26-1, 16KOs), with his 11th-round technical decision win over the formely undefeated Chad Dawson, in what was a surprising upset.

In the post fight interview Pascal said, “everybody thought that in order to beat Chad Dawson, you have to be smart and rugged. But I knew that I was faster, more clever, had better footwork, and more powerful.” Adding, “and I knew that with my speed, by being smart in the ring, that I could beat Chad Dawson.”

When asked by HBO commentator Larry Merchant if he was tired in the later rounds, especially the 11th, Jean replied, “I wasn’t tired. I did that on purpose, because I knew that Chad Dawson was getting really tired. So I thought to myself, ‘let him throw punches, and at the end of each round, go for it and go after him,” Also stating, “he was tired to me, because I could feel it. I’m a boxer, and I’m a warrior, and I know when a boxer is tired in the ring.”

Before tonight’s clash, Dawson had made it clear he wanted a crack at Romanian IBF super middleweight monarch Lucian Bute (26-0, 21KOs), who is a Canadian citizen. HBO invited Bute to sit ringside for the fight, and Chad Dawson looked to dispatch Pascal in hopes of securing a big fight with the Romanian born Canadian. That did not happen and now Jean Pascal looks to become the benefactor of a big fight between the two Canadian champions.

“Listen, I’m the boss in town. Right now, I’m one of the best in the world, and if Lucian Bute wants to fight me, then he has to challenge me,” said Pascal. “I want the best in the world. Benard Hopkins, Joe Clazaghe, anybody. I want to prove that I am one of the best. I’m about to invade America.”

When Larry talked to Dawson, Chad stated, “I thought that I was doing my job. I had him hurt before he head-butted me and the fight got stopped, I had him hurt. He was head-butting me all night. He was holding and hitting. I didn’t complain one time. But hey, I’ve got a rematch clause so we can go back and do it again.”

Merchant asked, “you don’t think you lost the fight?”

“I’m not saying that. We had two more rounds to do, and you could see I had him hurt at the end of that point,” said Chad. “Before they stopped the fight I had him hurt. You saw that.”

When asked why he did not press the action more?

“I fight my fight. That’s my fight you know. We both fought a good technical fight. I’m not going to take nothing away from him, but like I said, he was head-butting me all night, and he was holding and hitting. I didn’t complain not one time. We both fought a good fight, I’m not going to take anything away from him. He fought great, I’m not making any excuses.”

To which Merchant replied, “but you are making excuses.”

“I’m not making excuses, if I said that he was head-butting me all night, he was head-butting me,” said Dawson. “We’ve got to do it again and we’re going to do it again. I’m not hurt, I didn’t take any punishment in there, I’m good,” said Dawson. “I can come back and fight a few months from now, two or three months from now, it’s nothing.”

While the future remains to be seen. If “Bad” Chad Dawson always fought like he did for most of round nine and eleven, he would realize the fan base and following he seeks.

Jean Pascal surprised many tonight with good lateral movement, deft hands, and powerful punches. He seemed to slow considerably down the stretch though. Dawson will watch the tape and realize his mistakes of letting up on a tired and hurt opponent, whom he had his way with whenever he turned up the heat and let his combinations fly. If there is a rematch, Jean Pascal will need to come in with improved conditioning, and ready to keep pace for twelve rounds.

Pascal showed grit and determination and deserves applaud for his hard fought victory.