Can Glen Johnson Defeat Chad Dawson This Time? By KO?

by James Slater – There are no shortage of people out there who felt/feel as though “Road Warrior” Glen Johnson did enough to have been awarded the points win over Chad Dawson in their light-heavyweight title fight last Spring. When the exciting and hard fought 12 rounds were up, however, “Bad” Chad was declared the winner via a unanimous decision that was to deeply annoy Johnson. Now, in preparing for the anticipated November 7th rematch, Johnson, as reported by FightNews.com, is intent on scoring a KO the second time around..

“This is a must-win for Glen,” trainer Orlando Cuellar told FightNews. “Glen is coming to knock Chad Dawson out, plain and simple. We are not going to take any chances on this fight going to the scorecards again.”

A great idea on paper; beating, much less KO’ing, the undefeated and much younger Dawson will not be an easy task for the now 40-year-old warrior who is 49-12-2(33). Sure, the southpaw with the 28-0(17) pro record has a chin that is not exactly made of granite, but Johnson hit it with his best shots last year and he couldn’t put the 27-year-old down. Why will Johnson be able to do so now, some nineteen months and a couple of fights later?

In all likelihood, though Team-Johnson will likely be loathe to hear it, November 7th’s bout will also go down to the wire. Another great fight can be expected, but another close decision will likely go right along with it. Ludicrously being sanctioned as a WBC interim title fight – when “real” WBC light-heavyweight champ Jean Pascal is far from inactive (actually defending his title against Silvio Branco tonight) – Dawson-Johnson II is nonetheless a genuine fight to get excited about.

Since his controversial win last April, Dawson has given up the WBC crown, then won the IBF version, then given that up also. Unable to get a big T.V fight, the man Floyd Mayweather Junior once called the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport soon realised that being an alphabelt holder does not necessarily bring in the big money – hence the rematch with Johnson; a fight both the paying fans and HBO are happy with.

Two less than thrilling but dominant decision wins over Antonio Tarver followed Dawson’s win over Johnson, and the return bout should, if it’s as good as the first fight, send the fans home happy and feeling like they’ve had value for money. Johnson has also won two fights since last Spring, beating Aaron Norwood by 4th-round stoppage and out-pointing (in another rematch) Daniel Judah. Both fighters are keen to settle the score in November.

Stung by the claims he was fortunate to have been given the win last year, Dawson too has something to prove. Hopefully, fight-two will be as good as the original battle, and hopefully the winner will be a clear and undisputed one. It wouldn’t come as a huge shock if the winner prevailed via a too close for comfort margin on the cards again, though, and I go for Dawson to keep his perfect pro record as he wins another tough one.