By Troy Ondrizek

Chad Dawson, he truly is the young man that can do no right.  Dawson’s recent decision to vacate his IBF trinket and forgo a mandatory fight with talented but little known Tavoris Cloud has gotten some fans and pundits in an uproar.  These recent sentiments are just the latest in a long line of complaints regarding Chad and his career.  Before this Cloud incident, it was all of us complaining about Antonio Tarver being Dawson’s last foe in a rematch that no one wanted to see happen, except Tarver and his people.  Before that, it was Chad once again having the label of “ducker” placed upon him when he gave up his WBC strap to face off against Tarver in the first place.  Even before that, it was people complaining that Chad wasn’t giving Glencoffe Johnson a rematch because many thought Johnson won the first bout; the judges gave it to Dawson 116-112 across the board.

The funniest thing about all this is, Dawson is “ducking” Cloud so he can give Johnson a rematch.  Granted, HBO and their willingness to pay for the latter fight and not the other had a lot to do with Chad’s decision to vacate.  Chad Dawson is undefeated in the ring, but in the realm of public opinion, he’s sporting a paltry 0-4 record.  In His defense, he has been completely robbed by the judges in all four occasions.

The first bout that he lost in the battle for the hearts of the fans was right after he was announced victorious in his epic struggle against “The Road Warrior” in April of last year.  It’s a shame that the disparity in the scoring and the reality of how close the bout was has taken away from how entertaining the fight was.  The action was back and forth the entire twelve rounds.  Dawson was dazed a few times and for long stretches he boxed circles around Johnson until he got brave/dumb and fell into a slugfest with Glencoffe.  Chad didn’t do himself any favors in the post-fight interview and that struck a nerve with fight fans. 

Truth is I know more people who felt Dawson won.  All of them thought a rematch with Johnson was warranted but not necessarily immediately feasible because Showtime had been setting up a Dawson/Tarver showdown ever since Chad beat Tomasz Adamek for the WBC belt.  There is no true fight fan out there that can’t love and respect Glen Johnson.  We all want to see him fight for his well deserved paydays.  Unfortunately, he isn’t a big box-office draw and he doesn’t bring a lot of potential revenue to the table.  That’s why his career has transpired as it has, kind’ve like a light heavyweight version of Nate Campbell.  Two really good fighters who never hold back in the ring, but just can’t win the leverage battles at the negotiating table.  The silver lining is that Dawson knew he needed to fight Johnson again, and now it makes just as much money as it makes sense to fight Glen.  We had to wait just beyond a year for the rematch to happen, we’ll wait a lot longer for Manny Pacquiao to give Juan Manuel Marquez a third go around.

Dawson followed up the Johnson debacle by deciding not to fight his WBC mandatory Adrian Diaconu.  He booted the belt in preference for a bigger payday against a more established foe in Antonio Tarver.  The cynics were riled up by this maneuver.  They quickly went on the offensive stating that “Dawson only fights forty year olds” and “he is afraid of to face a young strong challenger.”  It’s amazing how short people’s attention spans are.  Diaconu pulled out of a scheduled fight with Dawson just weeks before it was set to take place, Epifanio Mendoza stepped in to take the paycheck instead of Diaconu.  Adrian’s injury is what set up Dawson’s fight with Johnson.  Diaconu’s next fight was for the interim WBC title just one week after Dawson defeated Johnson. 

Adrian had his chance earlier, and then took advantage of a poorly run sanctioning body to become a paper titlist.  Don’t get me wrong, he is a talented fighter, and I am grateful that Versus decided to televise his stellar matchup with fellow Canadian transplant Jean Pascal.  There is no doubt that the young Diaconu would be a stern test for Dawson, but Chad fought a better fighter who was higher ranked and did more for the progression of Dawson and the division than had he faced off with Diaconu.  They are not far from seeing each other in the ring, but Chad is still working on establishing himself as the best light heavyweight while Adrian is working on his contender status. 

It took over a year, but Chad landed his big fight with Antonio Tarver.  Dawson was eager to quell the critics and the exuberant Tarver.  For one night, Dawson was able to achieve just that.  In an absolute one-sided beating over twelve repetitive rounds, Chad Dawson looked like the fighter who he knew he was and who fans had hoped he would be.  There was nothing wrong with his performance, his statements after the affair weren’t controversial, and there was nothing for Chad to worry about.  He could move on with his career in a fashion that was amiable to the fans and him. 

As always with Chad Dawson, his time in the public relations sun didn’t last long, and as usual, it wasn’t his fault.  Tarver exercised his rematch option with Dawson.  Once the news broke, you could hear the wind come out of Dawson’s sails.  No one wanted to see that fight again.  It was a clear-cut victory for the younger man who should’ve been able to move on.  One cannot chide Antonio for taking his contractual right for a rematch.  He wanted one more sizable payday, and that was only represented in the form of a rematch with Dawson. 

Chad and fightfans treated it as a dentist appointment.  Please get this over with as fast as you can because we got better things to do.  Then Chad hurt his hand in training and moved the fight from March to May.  HBO paid way too much for the fight just to be able to showcase Dawson, and he took another hit in the PR department.  Not too mention the verbal battering that he took from the HBO commentating crew throughout the broadcast.  They were more brutal than anything Tarver landed.  Antonio came out stronger and busier and Chad didn’t look as good, but he clearly won and yet again he proved that he is one of the best light heavyweights in the world.  Not many men can say they have looked good against Tarver in any fight, and even less can claim the same in rematches with him.  I didn’t want the fight to happen, but I understood.

We have arrived to the current conflict.  The same erroneous argument is being recycled in reference to Dawson and Cloud now, as it was with him and Diaconu.  Tavoris for his part has been patiently waiting; too patient if you ask me.  He hasn’t fought since August of last year.  We’re talking nine months for a young fighter and with no return date set as of yet.  I respect him not wanting to lose his mandatory status, but it would’ve helped his cause immensely had he gotten his name out there a lot more. 

Maybe a victory over the likes of Chris Henry or Yusaf Mack would’ve done wonders for him.  The truth is; he lost out on this fight with Dawson because he isn’t a big enough draw.  If anyone has watched Cloud fight, you would know that stigma would disappear as soon as he got some much deserved exposure.  But if HBO is going to expose you, then you must show them something, unfortunately Cloud hasn’t had the opportunities to showcase much outside of his telling knockout victory over Julio Cesar Gonzalez. 

So Dawson decided to make the right choice financially and for posterity by once again squaring off with his most formidable foe, Glencoffe Johnson. 

Considered a long time scourge of the sport, sanctioning bodies have had a profound impact on Dawson’s current situation.  In this era, for a fighter of such notoriety as Chad Dawson, to twice vacate a belt, not to “duck” a fighter; but to take on a tougher challenge is commendable at the very least.  Adrian Diaconu and Tavoris Cloud are two very good young fighters and will have their chance to prove their mettle against Dawson, but it’s not their time yet.  It’s Dawson’s time to show that he is king of the light heavyweights and when his empire is secured, he will defend against all comers, irregardless of their sanctioning affiliations.  The young man is honestly doing the right thing with every career step he makes, it’s just not always perceived that way.  In a sport where perception has been unjustly right for so long, it’s nice to have a little substance to take its place.