Andre Ward vs. Chad Dawson: Preview and Prediction

by Geoffrey Ciani – It is a rare occurrence in boxing to see two elite talents both in their primes squaring off against each other. Therefore boxing fans have reason to celebrate, because this Saturday night unified super middleweight champion Andre ‘S.O.G.’ Ward (25-0, 13 KOs) will defend his belts against light heavyweight title holder ‘Bad’ Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KOs). Both combatants deserve credit for making this match happen, especially in a day and age where all too often the best are reluctant to face the best for various different reasons. Not only are Dawson and Ward two of the most talented pound-for-pound boxers in the world, they are also arguably coming into this contest following the apex of their respective careers. This just serves to further amplify the appeal of an already intriguing match-up.

The story in the lead-up to this fight has largely focused on the weight. This fight will be taking place at the 168 pound super middleweight limit. Chad Dawson is a big light heavyweight, and he last made the 168 limit for a fight more than six and a half years ago. As a result many observers have questioned Chad’s ability to move down in weight and compete effectively, and not without good reason. After all, boxers who drop weight often become physically drained, and that typically leads to decreased stamina, power, and punch resistance. This has helped create the perception that Dawson will be entering this contest compromised, giving Ward an inherent edge. The fact that this bout is also taking place in Ward’s hometown of Oakland gives the appearance of an additional advantage for Ward.

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Josesito Lopez: I’m going to be strong at 154 lbs for Saul Alvarez fight

By Dwight Chittenden: #4 WBC Josesito Lopez (30-4, 18 KO’s) says he feels stronger now that he’s moved up from 140 pounds to fight. In his last fight, the 28-year-old Lopez moved up to 147 lbs and defeated former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz after breaking his jaw in two places last June in a back and forth fight. Lopez, 5’11”, now will be moving up to 154 lbs to take on WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Lopez said to RingTV “Having to make 140 pounds is a struggle for a guy my height. There were ties when it was tought to make and I couldn’t give 100 percent in those fights. But I felt completely different in the Ortiz fight, especially in the middle and late rounds. I didn’t have to take any rounds off. I feel even stronger for this fight.”

It did look like Lopez took some rounds off in the Ortiz fight. I thought Lopez. He says he didn’t, but I thought Lopez fought hard in spurts and rested in some rounds.

Regardless of how strong Lopez says he’s feeling for the Alvarez fight it’s still going to be awfully difficult for him to compete in this fight. He looks kind of frail and doesn’t possess the same kind of thudding power that the 22-year-old Alvarez possesses.

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Ward vs. Dawson: Just the Facts!

by Robert Jackson: The Andre Ward (25-0, 13 KO’s), Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KO’s) fight coming up this Saturday night, has the boxing world energized and offers a main event and undercard suitable for a PPV card. This Saturday night fight will lead off a month of good fights that will extend into October, and onward to the end of 2012. This edition of ‘Just the facts’ will explore the ins-and-outs of 2 fighters characterized as the best facing the best, culminating with a prediction of the outcome.

Trainers
Chad Dawson trainer John ‘Iceman’ Scully himself a former fighter is a Roy Jones contemporary and at 45 has been training fighters since his retirement in the early 2000’s. Having previously trained Dawson, Scully is very familiar with the Dawson mindset and fight style. Scully’s performance as a cornerman is where the Dawson improvement can be seen. Prior to Scully the only dominant victory for Dawson over a prime fighter was against Tomas Adamek with Floyd Mayweather Sr. in the Dawson corner. After a brief stop by Dawson at the Kronk Gym to train with Emanuel Steward, Scully came on board to train Dawson for both Bernard Hopkins fights – with Dawson winning the 2nd, and showed improved focus, energy and determination to defeat the aging warrior.

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Nishioka vs Donaire, Rios vs Alvarado: Prepare For Warefare

By Mark Klimaszewski – On October 13th, The Home Depot. Centre in Carson, California will see a superb double-header of boxing entertainment. Featuring the 122lb clash between Japanese “Speed-king” Toshiaki Nishioka and “Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire; and it’s saliva inducing co-feature, the 140lb battle between undefeated “Mile High” Mike Alvarado against (also undefeated) former Lightweight World Champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios.

This is the kind of billing for fans to get excited about! In Nishioka v Donaire you have what will be a superbly technical, fast-paced chess match that will gather momentum and develop into a full blown war. Nishioka looked brilliant in his outpointing of Mexican hall-of-famer Rafael Marquez in November of last year; his speed and accuracy looked daunting for any potential opponent whilst he really seemed comfortable in there. Toshiaki appears to be at his physical peak right now and is a mouth-watering style match up for his slick, hard-hitting and maybe equally as fast opponent Donaire.

The Flash has struggled to find some career-defining fights outside of his huge upset stoppage victory over the then ultra-formidable knock out artist, Vic Darchinyan, and his shocking 2nd round demolition of then-unified 118lb champ Fernando Montiel. Nonito’s left hook was the deciding factor in both those fights and will be a dangerous prospect for the speedy Japanese southpaw. However, Donaire hasn’t looked overly impressive since his big win over Montiel and if Nishioka can avoid that left he will surely possess the speed to beat him to the punch through the mid to late rounds. Of course, that’s a big “if”.

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Bradley Sr: Timothy would have knocked Pacquiao out if he hadn’t injured his leg

By Rob Smith: Tim Bradley Sr., the father of WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (29-0, 12 KO’s), feels that Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) got a lucky break last June when Bradley injured his leg in their fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although Bradley still ended up winning the fight anyway by a 12 round split decision, Bradley Sr. feels that his son would have knocked Pacquiao out had he been fighting on two good legs in that fight.

Bradley Sr. said to Examiner.com writer Chris Robinson “I feel that Pacquiao would have got knocked the h*ll out if my son would have been able to shift the power on either leg but he could not do that.”

Bradley showed little in the way of power in that fight, and it pretty clear to most boxing fans that Pacquiao was the much harder hitter of the two. However, Bradley has shown some decent power in past fights against the likes of Lamont Peterson and Joel Casmayor. But Bradley has never been a huge puncher and it’s doubtful that even with two good legs working for him that he’d have been able to knock out the 33-year-old Pacquiao in that fight.

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Ward: Chad Dawson won’t be fighting a guy in his 40s this Saturday

By Marcus Richardson: WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (25-0, 13 KO’s) will be defending his titles against Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KO’s) on Saturday night on HBO at the Oracle Arena, in Oakland, California. The 30-year-old Dawson will be coming down from light heavyweight to challenge the 28-year-old Ward in a huge fight for both of them. The winner of this fight can move onto bigger and better things with possible payday fights against the likes of Mikkel Kessler, Carl Froch, Lucian Bute and Arthur Abraham.

Ward said to USAtoday.com “Chad is not fighting a guy in his 40s. I’m 28, I’m a young man. That’s something he hasn’t had to deal with for a long time, as well as my skill set.”

Dawson has fought a lot of aging fighters in the past four years with two fights against 43-year-old Glen Johnson, two fights against the 42-year-old Antonio Tarver and two fights against 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins. The unfortunate about boxing is that it takes so long for a fighter to become a star that it kind of limits the options of fighters on their way up if they want to get big fights on television.

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Hearn: Cleverly’s camp could have offered £10million to fight Froch, and the answer would still be no

By Michael Collins: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) and his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport have reportedly turned down a huge £1million offer from Frank Warren for Froch to step up and fight WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (24-0, 11 KO’s) in a catchweight fight. Instead of taking that big payday for his fighter Froch and thrilled British boxing fans, Hearn has instead matched Froch up against American Yusaf Mack (31-4-2, 17 KO’s) in a fight that will take place on November 17th at the Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK.

Hearn told thesun.co.uk “His camp could offer £10m, the fight isn’t going to happen. It would be impossible for Carl Froch to move up to 175.”

That’s interesting because according to Warren he was open to having Cleverly fight Froch at a catchweight to make the fight happen. Froch wasn’t necessarily being asked to move up 7 pounds in weight to take on the 25-year-old unbeaten Cleverly at the full weight for light heavywweight at 175.

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Odlanier Solis vs. Leif Larsen on October 12th

By Marcus Richardson: Former 2004 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist for Cuba Odlanier Solis (18-1, 12 KO’s) will be fighting 37-year-old unbeaten Norwegian heavyweight Leif Larsen (16-0, 13 KO’s) on October 12th at the Madrid Arena, in Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain in a scheduled 10 round bout. The 6’4″ Larsen played professional football with the Buffalo Bills from 2000 to 2001. He’s been a pro boxer since 2003, but failed to fight 2008 and 2009.

Before he faces Larsen, Solis, 32, has an eight round fight scheduled on September 14th against Erkan Teper (8-0, 6 KO”s) at the Tabea-Areal, Halle an der Saale, Sachsen, Germany. This will be Solis’ second tune-up fight after tearing up his right knee in a 1st round knockout loss to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in March of last year.

One of Solis’ problems since turning pro in 2007 is his weight. Although only 6’1 1/2″, Solis has fought much of his career between 250 and 270 pounds, and the weight could have been a factor in Solis blowing out his knee. He’s put on a great deal of weight since his amateur days when Solis fought at 200 lbs. You can understand Solis putting on a little weight after turning pro, but 50 to 70 lbs is just an incredible amount of weight to slap on.

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Robert Guerrero wants Broner to come up to 147 lbs to face him; sees Mayweather as possible fight

By Michael Collins: WBC interim welterweight champion Robert Guerrero (30-1-1, 18 KO’s) wants former WBO super featherweight champion Adrien Broner to come up all the way to welterweight to fight him without a catchweight. Guerrero feels that Broner, who has never even fought at lightweight, should move up from super featherweight three divisions to face him at welterweight. Why Guerrero doesn’t want to meet Broner at a catchweight is unclear but you have to wonder if he’s worried about how he would performance against Broner if a catchweight were used.

Guerrero also thinks a fight between him and unbeaten WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. is possible, saying to Ryan Maquinana at csnbayarea.com “It’s possible to make the fight. Everything’s there to do the fight. I just think he might go out without a fight, just give up the [WBC] title. We’ll see what happens…If he wants it, he can come get it.”

Guerrero is referring to his interim WBC title. Why Mayweather would want that title when he has the full WBC title is the big question. I think Guerrero is wrong about Mayweather losing his title. The World Boxing Council might be a little reluctant to strip Mayweather given the huge sanctioning fees they can get for his fights. I think Mayweather getting stripped of his WBC title would be something that might take a long time to happen, because Guerrero just doesn’t bring in the same kind of money that Mayweather does. sure, the WBC can strip Mayweather of his title and then give it to Guerrero, but what will they have then? Guerrero barely beat Selcuk Aydin in his last fight.

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36-year-old Erik Morales promises to give Danny Garcia a boxing lesson on October 20th

By Dwight Chittenden: Former four division world champion Erik Morales (52-8, 36 KO’s) sees himself schooling unbeaten WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (24-0, 15 KO’s) in their fight on October 20th at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York. Morales already fought Garcia last March and was decisively beaten by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 117-110, 116-112 and 118-109.

Morales looked stiff, slow and old in that fight. The performance has since been partially blamed on Morales having recently come off of gallbladder surgery. While that sounds like a good excuse it doesn’t take away from the fact that he was beaten by Garcia, and it’s hard to see Morales improving enough from that fight to beat him in the rematch next October.

Morales said this about the Garcia rematch to Suljos.com “I think Danny Garcia is talking too much. He feels confident but I warn him I will defeat him. I will take him some boxing.”

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