411 Prizefight Preview: Dawson vs. Johnson II
Posted by Matt Knowles on 11.06.2009
The two light heavyweight sensations will once again do battle in a rematch of their highly competitive, highly controversial clash from April of last year...
Time to do it one more time
This Saturday on HBO's World Championship Boxing, unbeaten 2-time light heavyweight champion "Bad" Chad Dawson will once again go to war with former champ/2004 fighter of the year Glen "The Road Warrior" Johnson. This will be a rematch of their highly competitive bout from April of last year, one in which many boxing observers were at odds as to who exactly should have won the bout.
Let's go ahead and work backwards on the topic of their first encounter. Once it was all said-and-done, the bout easily became one of the most talked-about title fights of last year, due to the differing opinions from boxing fans and media alike, in regards to the scorecards. The people who appreciate aggression and power punching were claiming that Johnson was robbed, while the folks who appreciate activity and accuracy felt that Dawson was more than deserving of a victory.
When the fight was all said and done, Chad Dawson was awarded a unanimous decision win, with scores of 116-112 across the board.
Just to get the debate started, let me be the 1st to proclaim that the scoring in the first bout, in my humble opinion, was 110% accurate.
Once again, let's keep working backwards. In the championship rounds, Glen Johnson began to land some monster shots on Dawson's cranium, visibly shaking the champion on more than one occasion. The crowd in Florida went berserk every time Johnson connected, and the Showtime announce team began to play along with the emotions of the crowd, leading viewers to believe that an upset may have been brewing.
Let's now focus on the first 10 (or so) stanzas of the bout. Chad Dawson was by no means dominant in any particular round, but he was clearly the more active fighter on offense, landing anywhere from 5-10 punches during exchanges before Johnson could land just 1-2. Although none of these shots really shook up The Road Warrior, Bad Chad was piling-up the points on the scorecards with relative ease. Frankly, it wasn't until the late surge by Johnson that the bout even became competitive.
So here's my personal, somewhat-biased, overall assessment of bout #1:
- Dawson clearly out-boxed Johnson for roughly 7-9 rounds
- Johnson brutally dominated the other 3-5 rounds
- The 116-112 scorecards were perfect
By ALL MEANS my fellow fight freaks, feel free to let loose and disagree with this assessment. All I ask is that when you do, please send me a list of 7+ rounds where Johnson was the superior boxer, and we can keep the debate rolling!!!
ANYWAYS…..in the interim timeframe between now and then, Chad Dawson took Antonio Tarver's IBF light heavyweight title, and then proceeded to dump it in the circular file before once again schooling the Magic Man in the rematch. Glen Johnson got back to his winning ways with dominant victories over Aaron Norwood and Daniel Judah. Now, the two premier light heavyweights in the world (sorry B-Hop, 170-lb fights don't count) will once again go to war to determine who is the cream of the crop at 175 pounds.
How will this fight be different than the first? This is the 64 trillion dollar question in my opinion. For me, I have a hard time believing that either fighter has progressed (or regressed) by any relevant degree since their last meeting 19 months ago. Maybe Chad is a bit more confident following the Tarver victories, and maybe Johnson is a little more motivated based on the outcome of their 1st bout. This being said, I believe the onus is on Glen Johnson to modify his game-plan and step up his activity level in the opening half of the bout.
This, however, is incredibly difficult to do against someone who possesses an offensive arsenal such as Dawson's. Bad Chad doesn't hit very hard relative to other 175-pounders, but he throws multi-punch combos, from all angles, from bell-to-bell, every round. Combine this activity level with height, reach, and savvy defense, and you have a very tricky puzzle to solve for any opponent.
If Johnson gets his motor running in the early rounds, we may be in for an upset, as the Road Warrior has proven that he does possess KO power. In this writer's opinion, however, Chad Dawson is too big of a "hill to climb" for Johnson at this stage of his career. I would expect more-of-the-same in this bout, with Dawson racking up points from the get-go, followed by an unsuccessful late surge by Johnson.
And I'm pretty sure, on Sunday morning; we the Fight Freaks will have another sizzling debate on our hands.
Once again, let's keep working backwards. In the championship rounds, Glen Johnson began to land some monster shots on Dawson's cranium, visibly shaking the champion on more than one occasion. The crowd in Florida went berserk every time Johnson connected, and the Showtime announce team began to play along with the emotions of the crowd, leading viewers to believe that an upset may have been brewing.
By ALL MEANS my fellow fight freaks, feel free to let loose and disagree with this assessment. All I ask is that when you do, please send me a list of 7+ rounds where Johnson was the superior boxer, and we can keep the debate rolling!!!
