Interview With “Bad” Chad Dawson

chad dawson24.05.07 – By James Slater: WBC light-heavyweight king, “Bad” Chad Dawson is a fighter many believe to be on the verge of superstardom. The unbeaten twenty-four year old southpaw hailing from New Haven, Connecticut, won his world title last time out via a comprehensive and very impressive points victory of the then unbeaten Tomasz Adamek. Chad’s decision to part company with trainer Dan Birmingham and join forces with Floyd Mayweather Senior just before this fight in February raised a number of eyebrows. The move proved to be a successful one, however, and Dawson feels he is now a complete fighter under his new coach.

Currently in training for his first title defence – against Mexican tough guy, Jesus Ruiz, in a fight that will take place on the under card of Antonio Tarver’s comeback bout against Elvir Muriqi – Chad graciously took time out to speak with this writer. Here is what “Bad” Chad had to say.

James Slater: It’s great to talk with you, Chad. Firstly, this upcoming fight with Jesus Ruiz, what do you know about him?

Chad Dawson: I know he’s a tough guy who comes to fight. He’s got nineteen wins, seventeen by KO. He’s supposed to be a big puncher. I’ve watched tapes of him, he’s an aggressive fighter.

J.S: Yeah, he knocked Paul Briggs down when he fought him, will you be wary of his power?

C.D: Not so much wary of him, I’ve got a little bit of a bang myself. I’m gonna go in there and do what I do right, just like I did in my last fight with Adamek. Adamek was considered a big puncher too. I’m just gonna take control of the fight.

J.S: Do you consider yourself a puncher, or more of a boxer/puncher in general?

C.D: It depends. Different styles of fighters make different fights. Maybe this guy will bring the puncher out in me, maybe he won’t. I don’t really consider myself a real big puncher. I mean, I know I can punch, I have the power to knock someone out. But I take my time, figure a guy out and then take it from there.

J.S: When you were knocked down in your fight with Eric Harding in the first round, were you hurt or was it just a flash knockdown?

C.D: That was just a flash knockdown, I was off balance and he caught me with a jab. He caught me with a nice stiff jab, but I would definitely say it was a flash knockdown.

J.S: You were also knocked down against Adamek ( in the tenth round). Not to concentrate on negatives, but were you hurt that time?

C.D: That was a flash knockdown too. It’s funny, he caught me with a nice shot but I wasn’t hurt. I was fully conscious that I was going down. I jumped right back up and got back to my jab, doing what I was doing and controlling the fight.

J.S: The light-heavyweight division is in good shape at the moment. There’s you, our guy Clinton Woods, Tarver coming back etc. It’s a good division, do you consider yourself the best out there?

C.D: I mean, I want to consider myself the best, but until I get the big fights you know, Antonio Tarver, Clinton Woods, until I get those fights I really can’t say. I do consider myself the best in as much as there really isn’t anyone who wants to take a chance with [fighting] me.

J.S: So a fight with Clinton Woods would definitely interest you then?

C.D: Definitely. If the money’s right. You know me, I’ll fight anybody. I Don’t mind a fight with Clinton Woods, anyone of those guys, yeah. But a fight with Woods, that would definitely be a boost to my career.

J.S: Have you seen Woods fight, do you rate him as a good fighter?

C.D: Well, he has the IBF title. He didn’t get it just by sitting back fighting guys that were nobodies. He’s a champion, he’s definitely a good fighter and a good champion. I wouldn’t have a problem going over there [to the U.K] to fight him, and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have a problem with that either. I mean, we’ll see. Maybe he’ll take a fight with me, maybe he
won’t. But I would definitely take a fight with him.

J.S: Well, it would be great to see. You’re on the same card as Tarver on June 9th, are there any plans for you two to hook up in the future. Has anything been discussed?

C.D: There’s been a few discussions. But Antonio Tarver’s not really looking to take a fight with me right now. We had a press conference a couple of weeks ago, and the way he was talking was like he’s definitely not looking for a tough fight like that right now. If he changes his mind, that would be good, if he doesn’t I have to respect him. I mean, if I beat him it would be great for me, but if he looses he’d be pretty much done. He has everything to lose and I don’t really have anything to lose.

J.S: Roy Jones is fighting again soon, would a fight with him interest you?

C.D: I’m not even thinking about Roy Jones. He talks a lot, but he’s just all about the money. He prices himself out too much. I’m looking for big fights. I don’t have a problem going down to 168 to fight Joe Calzaghe. I just want the big fights, the fights that are going to solidify me as one of the best fighters in the sport right now. But Roy Jones, I don’t think much of that fight. He’s been knocked out twice, in a row. Even in his last fight, with Prince Badi Ajamu, he didn’t look good that fight either. Tarver just ruined him [Jones].

J.S: That’s interesting, you saying you’d like a fight with Calzaghe. He seems unwilling to fight in America, though. Would you be willing to come over to Wales?

C.D: I’d be willing to come over. That’s a big fight. Right now, Calzaghe’s on top of the boxing game. I’d definitely come over to England to fight him, I’m that confident of the outcome of that fight. I’d have all the advantages except for experience.

J.S: That would be a great fight to see. I know you’ve fought in the U.K before ( a three round KO of Jamie Hearn in Manchester in March of 2006) how was the experience?

C.D: I loved it over there, the fans were very respectful. You guys have real boxing fans over there. I was talking with a couple of fans after the fight and they said how they wanted to bring boxing back to the way it had been when it was so much bigger. I respect that and I feel they [British fans] know boxing. To go back over there, I’d love it.

J.S: We would love to see you. Talking about Floyd Senior for a moment. How does he compare as a trainer to Dan Birmingham. What does Floyd add to Chad Dawson?

C.D: Floyd suits my style of boxing more. Dan Birmingham’s an excellent trainer, you know he trains Winky Wright, who’s one of the top fighters in the world, too, pound-for-pound. But Dan’s more of a ‘one, two, jab, jab’ kind of trainer, whereas Floyd Mayweather’s more of a combinations kind of trainer. He suits my style better. And in the gym he’s a hands on trainer. When I hit the bag he’s right there. When I jump rope he’s right there beside me telling me to pick it up. Just his work ethic is very, very good. We work well together, we’ve gelled. I’ve only had the one fight with him, but a lot of people called me after the [Adamek] fight and told me I looked like a totally different fighter.

J.S: Speaking of a guy named Mayweather. What about the fight people are still talking about in De La Hoya-Mayweather Junior. As a fighter, who do you think won?

C.D: I definitely think that if De La Hoya hadn’t of pressed the fight there wouldn’t have been a fight. It would have just been a total chess match. I think De La Hoya did a real good job of making the fight, but Floyd landed the cleaner punches. Most of the punches De La Hoya threw they weren’t really punches that landed, they were like grazing punches. Mayweather has that great defence, he rolls real good. I definitely think Mayweather won the fight, but it was a real close fight. If they’d given it to De La Hoya or scored it a draw I couldn’t have been mad.

J.S: Are you looking forward to getting on that really big stage yourself in the coming year or two, are you looking forward to being a real big superstar?

C.D: Yeah, definitely. Hopefully this year or next year will be my year. Everybody will know who I am hopefully.

J.S: Looking ahead to the Ruiz fight, what can we expect?

C.D: I never look to knock guys out. If you go in thinking like that it might not happen or you could be the one who winds up getting hurt yourself. Whatever game-plan Floyd sets for me that’s the game-plan I’m gonna follow.

J.S: Well, best of luck for the fight, Chad, I really appreciate your time.

C.D: Okay, I really appreciate it too.