The Showdown 10.27.09 - Fall Rematches

Posted by Patrick Cassidy on 10.27.2009

Patrick Cassidy breaks down several of the most prominent rematches on this year's fall schedule...

Welcome back to the Showdown! I was off last week as I was buried in a mountain of papers and exams. I was also welcomed by the cold finally arriving in Knoxville, Tennessee which means Fall is here and we're about to be in the heart of the fall boxing schedule. A quick look at the fall fight schedule shows a clear tendency towards rematches, several of which are rematches from fights that ended in controversy.

This week, I'm taking a look at several of these encounters and offering my opinion of just how they'll play out the second time around.



Chad Dawson vs. Glen Johnson, November 7th

First Bout: Chad Dawson defeats Johnson by UD

In Dawson's last fight we were treated to the rematch that no one wanted to see. I'm , of course, talking about the relatively dull bout between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver which HBO provided for all five people that cared about the fight. This time, we get a rematch of a fight that was both exciting and highly competitive. Some observers had a problem with the scoring of the first fight, and I am not one of those observers. I thought Dawson did an excellent job playing the matador to Johnson's aggressive style. I had the fight the same as the judges at ringside which was 116 – 112.

I expect an equally entertaining fight and I expect to see Dawson retain once again. The question is how he'll look doing it. Dawson's disappointed me lately by his perceived, lack of a killer instinct. He has a knack for letting go on the gas late in fights where he knows he's comfortably ahead. I think he's better than that and would like to see him make a statement out of the "Road Warrior". I don't think that's going to happen, Johnson knows this could be his last shot at the lime light and he's going to test Dawson. I expect a victory for Chad Dawson albeit by Split Decision victory



Lucian Bute vs. Librado Andrade, November 28th

First Bout: Lucian Bute defeats Andrade by UD

This bout is a rematch to one of the wildest bouts I've ever seen. Bute was clearly outboxing Andrade through the course of the fight before Andrade hit pay dirt in the 11th round and carried it over to the 12th. You'll remember this as the round where Andrade punished Bute who finally collapsed into the corner in the waning seconds of the fight after taking severe punishment. He beat a controversial long count to get the fight to the cards and retain his title. The fight was eerily reminiscent of Meldrick Taylor's clash with Julio Cesar Chavez but this time the referee let the fight reach its conclusion.

Both men looked sensational in their respective tune ups for this bout and it appears we're going to be in for a real war. I think Andrade has consistently been getting better since his 2007 loss to Mikkel Kessler and I don't expect Bute to pile up as many early rounds as he did in their first encounter. With that said, it's hard to go against a fighter who had his way with the same opponent for close to 10 rounds. I'm going with Bute by a close Unanimous Decision victory



Brian Viloria vs. Omar Nino, December 5th

First Bout: Nino defeated Viloria on points in their first bout and did the same in their second bout. However, Nino failed a post fight drug test and the victory was changed to a No Contest

When Viloria and Nino met three years ago, Viloria was being groomed by Top Rank as it's next lower-weight sensation. How shocked they were when Nino roughed up Viloria over 12 rounds and took his title in front of a national television audience on Versus. The rematch failed to produce vindication for Viloria and he struggled in his subsequent bouts. However, since 2008 Viloria has returned to form and this rebirth was highlighted by a dominant 11th round TKO of Ulises Solis to claim Solis's IBF belt. Nino on the other hand has fought sparingly since their last fight and has gone 3 – 1. This bout will be interesting as its two fighters going in opposite directions but Nino still has those convincing performances against Viloria.

I expect Nino to take it to Viloria early on but Viloria appears to be significantly better than he was three years ago. I'm going with Viloria by late round TKO



Jean Pascal vs. Adrian Diaconu, December 11th

First Bout: Pascal defeats Diaconu by UD to claim his WBC Light Heavyweight Title

Last June, Jean Pascal soundly outclassed Diaconu in a thriller of a bout that featured several brilliant exchanges. I find it hard to see where Diaconu can take the title back from Pascal. Pascal not only carried the bigger punch but also soundly defended a large majority of Diaconu's offense aside from a few spurts where Diaconu was able to catch him. I'm expecting Pascal to finish Diaconu off with a mid round TKO

Well that's it for now, there's a few bouts I've left off this list because they're still being ironed out but judging from this list, we have an excellent fall schedule on tap for us. See ya next week.