Ringside With Raymundo 11.05.09: 'Bad Chad' is the Future of the Middleweight Division

Posted by Raymundo Dioses on 11.05.2009

This week, how Chad can become the top dog by going one division lower, the arroneous WBC ban on heavyweight Chris Arreola, Diaz/Malignaggi II on the way, big talk from Manny Pacquiao about Floyd Mayweather and random thoughts on the happenings in the sport of boxing!!!


Can he rule a smaller division?

Undefeated light-heavyweight Chad Dawson has been on the cusp of breaking into the top-ten pound for pound best fighter list for the better part of two years. At times, Dawson has attained a No. 9 or 10 spot, yet the best chance he has to become a mainstay on the mythical yet highly regarded list is to make a descent to the middleweight division.

Thus far, Dawson has pretty much proved all he can in the light-heavies, first winning the WBC title in early March with a unanimous decision victory over now cruiserweight Tomasz Adamek and successfully defending the title three times before giving up the ‘green belt' to face Antonio Tarver, in which he picked up the IBF and IBO titles in what became two consecutive lop sided decisions over Tarver.

With the fights, Dawson picked up decent paydays, yet walked down the only avenue for a marquee fight at light-heavyweight when he faced Tarver twice. Sure, Dawson could nab all the titles in the division by facing Gabriel Campillo (WBA) and Tavoris Cloud (IBF), yet marquee fighters wish to face other marquee fighters, and in this day and age, where titles are defined, hold on, define themselves as meaningless, (more on that later) fighters no longer care about belts and may a fighter has grown accustomed to dropping a title altogether to fight a name opponent.

What this does is provide higher quality matches in boxing, which Dawson sought to accomplish in relinquishing the WBC belt and fight Tarver. Although the end result was two complete routs in Dawson's favor, it wasn't Dawson's fault that Tarver didn't come to fight in either bout. The fights were also a testament to how gifted Dawson is at the point, which could be the prime of his career at the ripe age of 27, and is the reason why he's been flirting with the pound for pound list for so long.

This weekend, Dawson will fight in what should be his last fight in the light-heavyweight division, as he defends his IBO title, and oddly the WBC stuck their nose in and declared the match to also be for their interim title, as Dawson takes on Glen Johnson, with whom he participated in a spirited slug fest that led to a disputed unanimous decision victory in April of last year. Johnson and Co. implored for a rematch, yet Dawson went the ‘Tarver route', facing Tarver twice and placing two defeats under his belt of a former undisputed champion.

Dawson deserves praise for giving Johnson his shot at redemption, which gets underway this weekend in Dawson's home-state of Connecticut, especially with the future Dawson could potentially begin in the middleweight division. The rematch will most likely be a mirror image of their fight last year, and could actually hinder Dawson's future as an undefeated fighter, heading into a new division. A win by Johnson could also lead to a rubber match, a trilogy between the two in where the score would be 1-1, with a tie-breaker needed.

Yet if Dawson is able to record a second victory over Johnson, which would be the second time Dawson has defeated the same fighter twice, (Tarver) the logical choice would be to step down ten pounds and enter the middleweight arena, where a plethora of marquee fights reside for the 27 year old in the prime of his career.

Imagine match-ups against Kelly Pavlik or Paul Williams! Either would be barn burner type fights that would be certified Fight of the Year candidates before the bell even rang. Other potential opponents would be Winky Wright, (which could also be defend as going the ‘Tarver route'), Roman Karmazin, and in the super-middleweight division, (168-174) potential opponents could be any of the current Super Six Participants, (the Euro guys, Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham or Mikkel Kessler, or US guys Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell) Allan Green, Sakio Bika, Edison Miranda or up and comer Danny Jacobs.

The middleweight division is ripe for Dawson, and in order to get there he needs to win one more time in the light-heavies before he has the chance to light up the 160 pound division and finally crack top-ten lists for good.

WBC BANS CHRIS ARREOLA

In what could be defined by the current abbreviation heavy generation, the WTF moment of the week came when the World Boxing Counsel decided to hand down a six month ban on heavyweight Chris Arreola.

As reported on their website, the following headline begins as this:

"The World Boxing Council suspended Chris Arreola today due to his foul language in the ring, when he expressed himself after he lost to Ukrainian champion Vitali Klitschko on September 26th, 2009 in Los Angeles when Vitali put his Heavyweight title on the line."

Arreola was emotional following his spirited stoppage loss to Vitali Klitschko, and used many cuss words in his post fight interview. The words weren't thrown at anyone in particular, if anything Arreola was upset with himself, yet the WBC declares a ban on him for cussing at no one in particular?

Many a fighter has been emotional following the outcomes of their fights, and it is far from uncommon to hear the frustrations aired out on cable TV. This is HBO, people! The same network that has the ‘F' bomb filled ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm' and marijuana influenced series ‘Bored To Death'. HBO subscribers know what to expect, and most likely didn't bat an eye over Arreola's ‘foul language'.

The WBC just took another road towards the path of irrelevancy. To whom does this ban serve justice to? To you HBO subscribers - who hear far worse ‘foul language' on other HBO shows? Perhaps the people in attendance that night at the Staples Center, who willingly went to see the organized violence that is boxing and the atmosphere it comes with?

This is one small step for obscurity, one huge leap towards the decline of the WBC.
This ban means nothing, and Arreola, like every other fights who laces up gloves, can continue to ignore these ‘boxing organizations' with belts. The ban doesn't mean Arreola can't box for six months, it only means his fights won't be sanctioned by the WBC.

Big loss…

PACQUIAO DOESN'T THINK THE MAYWEATHER FIGHT WILL HAPPEN

Manny Pacquiao, who faces Miguel Cotto next weekend in Las Vegas, recently told the Associated Press that he doesn't see the big 2010 mega fight that everyone would like to see, happening at all.

"I don't think it's going to happen," Pacquiao said. "I'm sure he doesn't want to fight."
Pacquiao later goes on to describe how he thinks Mayweather views boxing.

"Boxing for him is like a business," Pacquiao said. "He doesn't care about the people around him watching. He doesn't care if the fight is boring, as long as the fight is finished and he gets (plenty of) money. … I want people to be happy. You have a big responsibility as a boxer."

If the fight does indeed end up happening in 2010, score round 1 for Pacquiao.

DIAZ VS. MALIGNAGGI II

Fightnews.com is reporting that the David Diaz/Paul Malignaggi fight is penned down for December 12 in Chicago.

Their first fight, which was held in Diaz' home-state of Texas, was a decent fight, yet led to a hotly disputed decision due to lopsided scoring on the part of the home-state judges. Malignaggi used ‘foul language' after the HBO televised fight, (What? No suspension Mr. Sulaiman?) as Malignaggi had rightly predicted that he might be shortchanged by the judges in leading up to the fight.

The rematch was in the works, and now looks to be signed. A neutral location like Chicago is an interesting location for the rematch to take place, as the third most popular city behind Los Angeles and New York City will host will hopefully be a solid match with a fair outcome this time around.

I'm picking a KO by Diaz, who may seek the knockout due to Malignaggi's ‘foul language' following the fight and verbal rants thrown at Diaz.

THROUGH MY EYES

So we don't get Williams/Pavlik, but we do get Williams/Martinez, which should still be a decent scrap. Hopefully in 2010 we could see Pavlik/Dawson or even Williams/Dawson. If somehow the WBC's ban prohibits Chris Arreola from fighting on the same night, I will write a not so nice open letter to WBC President Jose Sulaiman… Berto/Mosley, Berto/Mosley, Berto/Mosley, Berto/Mosley… I haven't heard the Floyd Mayweather radio interview with RA the Rugged Rapper, yet from what I've read, Floyd got owned. This isn't the first time, as ESPN's Brian Kenny has a long history of hitting Mayweather with the tough subjects and straight-up questions that Mayweather tries to ‘shoulder roll' away from. It's funny though that now a hip-hop industry member made Mayweather ‘face the music', especially since Floyd has tried to feel at home in that entertainment industry with his own ‘Philthy Rich Records'. I once had a short interview with ‘PRP' member ‘Baggz' from New Jersey. I wasn't too impressed with him or the label. Recently, ‘PRP' has engaged in a hip-hop battle with Miami's Rick Ross, and Ross has thrown fire towards Mayweather. Not a good start for the record label… Where the heck is Sergio Mora? The ‘Latin Snake' needs a fight, STAT!...Accolades to Yonnhy Perez, who became the new 188 pound IBF champion in upsetting Joseph Agbeko this last weekend. Man, Thompson Boxing Promotions does a great job of what a promotional company should do: Create a champion…R.I.P. to the eternal, beloved and revered referee Lou Filippo. Filippo was the referee of the ‘Rocky' films, and more recently regularly served as a judge for many fights in the Southern California region. It will be hard to not see Filippo walking around during fights, and I am sure many in the boxing community will feel the same way…