By Paul Strauss: In the past few years the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec,Canada has had more than it’s share of controversy, and a bit of it carried over into tonight’s match between Chad “Bad” Dawson (27-1, 17 KO’s) and WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1, 16 KO’s). However, tonight the controversy is probably confined to Chad and his corner, as they believe he was on his way to stopping Pascal, only to be derailed by a bad cut due to a clash of heads in the eleventh round. The doctor took a close look at the cut, and quickly called a halt to the action.
Dawson and Eddie Mustafa knew full well that Chad was losing on points, and their only hope was a kayo. But, Chad felt he was on his way to doing just that. They felt it was a quick stoppage. It did appear that Dawson had Pascal hurt late in the fight, but that’s something Pascal later disputed. Dawson also claimed the reason he lost was because Pascal was head butting him all night and also holding and hitting. He then said, “I don’t want to make any excuses, because Pascal fought a smart technical fight.” After that comment, veteran announcer Larry Merchant pointed out that in fact he just did make excuses for the loss. Dawson didn’t get it.
The fact is Dawson let Pascal dictate how the fight would progress. For the most part, Pascal stayed out of range, only to jump in quickly and rip off combinations and then get back out of range. Initially, the Pascal plan didn’t seem to faze Dawson. He appeared calm, and kept trying to set things up with his jab and hopefully make Pascal pay for his risky maneuvers. Pascal kept him from doing so by countering over the top of Dawson’s jab with his left hook. Even though he wasn’t landing the hook much early on, it seemed to be enough to keep Dawson from getting into his rthythm.
Soon thereafter Pascal started throwing straight right hands, both to the body and head. He kept taking chances by jumping in to land the punch, but for the most part he kept out of danger by staying to the left of Dawson’s front right foot and in close, which made it difficult for Dawson to land a counter left. Pascal would sometimes start out his attack by going to the body with hooks, and then slide over to his left again and bring his right hand punches from the outside of Dawson’s left elbow to the middle of his midsection, and then as he kept moving to the left, he would bring them up to the head. Dawson had a lot of difficulty trying to time his own counters, and often was unable to establish any kind of effective response.
In fact, often times Dawson would choose to skip backwards with his right arm extended ala stiff arm. Pascal would keep rapidly moving forward either under the arm or to the left of it, which put him in a position to land more right hands. After stinging Dawson, Pascal would then quickly move back out of range. Eddie Mustafa kept telling Dawson that he needed to double and triple up on his jab and go to the body of Pascal. He wanted Dawson to “skip” in behind the multiple jabs, so he wouldn’t get over extended, and which also would place him in a postion to throw the left to the body, but most of the time Pascal simply wasn’t there.
Those times when Pascal did pause long enough for Dawson to get something started, he suffered because of it. Dawson first would nail him with the jab, and then rip a good right hook to the body, and then blast some straight lefts through the middle of Pascal’s guard. As the fight progressed that was happening more and more, possibly because Pascal used up a lot of energy keeping on the move, and by darting in and out with bursts or flurries of punches. In the post-fight interview, Pascal said he wasn’t tired, and purposely was luring Dawson in at times, which might be a bit of a stretch.
The end came quickly in the eleventh round when both fighters moved in simultaneously and clashed heads. As a result, Dawson sustained a bad cut to the right eye lid. Referee Michael Griffin called time, and led Dawson to a neutral corner where the ringside physician could examine the cut. It only took a few moments for him to signify that the cut was sufficiently bad to call a halt to the fight. That was supported by Dawson’s own involuntary actions. He couldn’t helpt but squint the right eye closed with the wound being what it was, and it was obvious he could have been in big trouble if the fight was allowed to continue.
It was a tough break for Dawson, because it meant going to the score cards, and both he and Eddie Mustafa knew that Chad was way behind in points. He simply gave away too many rounds. And, afterall, this was Pascal’s backyard. When the judges completed each tally, two had scored it 106-103, and one judge scored it 108.101
Now the talk is for a super all Canadian fight between Pascal and Lucien Bute, which would probably have to be held somewhere much bigger than the Bell Centre. As far as Dawson is concerned, he will probably be looking toward Tavoris Cloud for his next fight and a chance to stay at the very top of the division. Apparently there is a rematch clause, but Pascal can take another fight first before fighting Dawson again. In the post-fight interview, Dawson seemed eager to get back in the ring with Pascal. He emphasized that he was not hurt or beat up, and other than needing time for the cut to heal, he was ready to get in with Pascal as soon as possible.
Larry Merchant called tonight’s fight an ugly one, and said he preferred the Cloud vs.Johnson fight, presumably because in that fight both men pretty much stood in front of each other. From a technical stand point, tonight’s fight was much better. Pascal fought a smart fight and exhibited excellent speed, and sharp punching power. He was able to lessen the risk of jumping in by using proper footwork and positioning, which kept Dawson at bay most of the fight. Dawson fans will understandably claim “Bad” was starting to get to Pascal, and undoubtedly they feel if the fight continued he would have be able to finish off Pascal, but that’s a “big if” and one that Pascal would simply say was wishful thinking. .