Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward is hard at work at the Kronk Gym in Detroit with his new client, former World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight champion “Bad” Chad Dawson (29-1, 17 KO’s), for Dawson’s upcoming 12-round match-up against Romanian/Canadian light heavyweight contender Adrian Diaconu (27-2, 15 KO’s).
The two will meet on the undercard of the May 21 “Dynasty II: Pascal vs. Hopkins” rematch at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and it will be more than a non-title clash of top 175-lb contenders for Dawson. If he wins, Dawson will face the winner of the Pascal and Hopkins in an effort to regain the belt.
Steward, known for his ability to analyze fighters and formulate winning fight plans, says he sees why Dawson is a champion and is currently working to change some technical errors in the style of the 6′ 1″ southpaw. “He’s unbelievable; phenomenal balance. He goes in and out and changes directions very, very well. He’s a terrific positional fighter. A lot of guys are always out of position, but Chad is sensational at getting in the right position to punch. He’s a natural athlete with a track background. A lot of boxers are that way, very gifted athletes.”
As far as weaknesses, Steward says Dawson may be trying too hard to emulate his boxing idol. “He fights closer than he should. We’re working on a problem where he’s dipping down too low. His hero was Pernell Whitaker, who used to like dipping down and ducking and dodging in close. This is something that’s not good for Chad Dawson to be doing. I like my tall fighters to fight tall.”
At Kronk, Dawson is sparring with a wide assortment of fighters. “This week and next week will be our really tough weeks. We’ll probably do about sixty rounds of sparring this next week or so.”
While many experts maintain that Dawson is actually the most skilled fighter on the card that night, main event included, Steward says victory of Diaconu is far from a given.
“He’s a good fighter. He’s very under-rated. He punches well and has good coordination. Plus there will be a big crowd of support for him from the Romanian fans in Montreal. I think his reception from the fans may exceed Jean Pascal’s that night, in fact.”
Dawson is also, once again, working with well-respected conditioning coach Axel Murillo. Steward says that between them, the two men keep the former champion active for most of the day.
“After the gym, he goes home and showers and eats and sometimes likes to go to a movie or go bowling. Three days a week we all go to a fine dining restaurant, normally Italian, and just connect as people and go through strategy. Chad is a very quiet person. The most unique thing about him is he’s into his family like nobody else. He’s 24/7 on the phone with his kids. The man is a very good father. Give him a laptop and a telephone to talk to his kids and that’s all he needs. I don’t know if he goes two hours in any day without communicating with his kids.”
“Dynasty II: Pascal vs. Hopkins” is promoted by Groupe Yvon Michel Inc. and Golden Boy Promotions and presented by Casino de Montreal, Videotron and Coors Light. The 12-round WBC, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight World Championship rematch will take place Saturday, May 21 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada and will be televised live on HBO’s World Championship Boxing in the United States beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT and distributed live on pay-per-view in Canada on Canal Indigo, Bell TV, Shaw TV, Viewer’s Choiceand Sasktel in French and English beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET. Dawson vs. Diaconu is presented in association with Gary Shaw Productions and InterBox.
Tickets, priced at C$500, C$350, C$250, C$175, C$110, C$75, C$50 and C$35, go on sale on Friday, April 1, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. ET and may be purchased at the Bell Centre box office or by calling (514) 790-2525 or (877) 668-8269. Tickets will also be available online at www.evenko.ca. A limited number of VIP tables priced at C$4,000, C$3,000 and C$2,500 will also be available for purchase by calling the Bell Centre box office or GYM at (514) 383-0666.
HARTSON AND HATTON JOIN FORCES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER
He’s fought the very best during his glittering boxing career, and now Ricky Hatton is teaming up with former football star John Hartson to help take on the biggest fight of all.
On Thursday, June 2, 2011 – almost two years since Hartson was rushed into hospital for life-saving cancer surgery – the pair will be guests of honour at a special gala dinner to be held at The Royal Lancaster hotel, London, in support of The John Hartson Foundation.
Raising awareness and support of Testicular Cancer, the charity was set up through the determination of Hartson himself, after his own traumatic ordeal with the illness. In July 2009, the former Arsenal, West Ham, Celtic and Wales star was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer after ignoring a lump for four years. The cancer spread to his lungs and brain, and left him fighting for his life.
Since then, he has undergone 11 operations and 77 sessions of chemotherapy after defying the odds to pull through. Now in remission, the 36-year-old is devoting his time to raising awareness about the illness and helping others in their battle to beat cancer.
John Hartson says: ‘I’m honoured that Ricky will be a special guest at the dinner and extremely grateful that he has given up his time to support the charity. It is going to be a fantastic night and will hopefully help to raise a lot of awareness and support for the charity. The fight against cancer requires a lot of bravery, determination and spirit, and who better to have supporting it than one of the bravest fighters of his generation.’
Ricky Hatton says: ‘I am proud to be associated with The John Hartson Foundation and being given the opportunity to help raise awareness of Testicular cancer.
I have fought and won many fights in the boxing ring but John has shown what a tremendously brave man he is, in the toughest fight of all, the fight for his life.
With your help and support we can help more people in their battle against this illness.
I look forward to meeting John and I hope that you can join us for what looks to be a special night to raise awareness of testicular cancer and support the John Hartson foundation’.
For more information on the John Hartson Tribute Dinner, contact Steve Surridge at Eclipse Sports Promotions on: 020 8441 2714 or 07717 798378
Or email: jhtribute@eclipsesports.co.uk
For more information on The John Hartson Foundation, visit: www.johnhartsonfoundation.com
Burns and Bellew back in action on 7/16
Big Time Boxing returns to Liverpool’s Echo Arena on Saturday 16th July when Glasgow’s Ricky Burns tops the bill in defence of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) Super-Featherweight Championship and Commonwealth Light-Heavyweight Champion Tony Bellew aims to add the vacant British title with a mouth-watering rematch with Derby’s Ovill McKenzie.
For Scotsman Burns it will be the third Defence of the title he ripped away from World number one Martinez in such spectacular fashion in September and it will be his first time fighting outside of Scotland as a World champion.
Promoter Frank Warren said today: “Burns is one of only four World Champions that Britain can boast of at the moment and the only one you can watch on these shores and he is every bit as exciting as Haye, Froch and Khan, all who are having their next fights abroad. Bellew and McKenzie served up a drama filled classic back in December with both men trading punches non-stop and both visiting the canvas before Bellew emerged the victor. The fights could have gone either way so a rematch with the British title at stake was a natural to bring back to the superb Echo Arena.”
An opponent for Burns will be announced next week but the undercard at the Echo Arena is packed with Merseyside talent including an English title defence by Derry Mathews and Prizefighter winner Ricky Fielding in his first contest under his new promotional deal with Warren.
Also on the bill is emerging Light-Middleweight Joe Selkirk, unbeaten in six and the popular Paul Butler of Ellesmere Port. Joe McNally hopes to continue his unbeaten run and former Amateur star Ronnie Heffron from Oldham, considered one of Britain’s best young prospects and Lincoln’s Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist Calum Johnson complete the card.
Ticket information will be released shortly.