Chad Dawson

At 41 years old, Chad Dawson has this physical status:

Chad Dawson (born July 13, 1982) is an American professional boxer.

He has competed in several light heavyweight world championships and was one of the most well-known boxers in that group from 2006 to 2013.

Dawson rose to fame on the international stage in 2007, when he defeated Tomasz Adamek to become the WBC light heavyweight champion.

He defeated Antonio Tarver in 2008 to win the IBF and IBO titles, as well as defeating him in a rematch in 2009. Dawson's first setback in career was a loss to Jean Pascal in 2010.

He'll come back to win the WBC for the second time, as well as the Ring magazine and lineal titles, by defeating Bernard Hopkins in 2012.

Dawson was ranked as the world's tenth best active boxer, pound for pound, in 2012, a division in which he hadn't competed since 2006 in order to face Andre Ward for the combined WBA (Super), WBC, Ring, and lineal titles.

Ward gave him his second loss in what would be an ill-fated move, as it became abundant that Dawson could no longer compete at a lower weight.

Dawson was knocked out in one round by Adonis Stevenson, who had returned to light heavyweight to defend his titles.

Early life

Dawson was born to Rick Dawson, a former boxer with a 2–6–1 professional record, and Wanda Dawson. Chad has four brothers and two sisters. Rick moved the family to New Haven, Connecticut, 1988, in the search of work. Chad attended James Hillhouse High School from 1996 to 2000.

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Professional career

Dawson, a southpaw, made his middleweight debut at middleweight before progressing to super middleweight, where he defied popular opponents such as Ian Gardner and Carl Daniels. In 2004, he failed a post-fight drug test, resulting in a six-month suspension from boxing. Dawson said that this was a motivating factor in his as a light heavyweight. Dawson's streak of fourteen consecutive victories came to an end after his victory over Aundalen Sloan on March 27, 2004 was halted.

Dawson defeated former title challenger and fellow southpaw Eric Harding in a unanimous decision on June 2, 2006, securing the regional NABF light heavyweight title. Dawson dominated the contest and pulled away on the judges' scorecards by 117–110, 116–111, and 116–111 after suffering a flash knockdown in the first seconds of the first round.

Dawson defeated the WBC light heavyweight championship over the undefeated, top-ten ranked champion Tomasz Adamek at age 24, 2007, who was unranked, on February 3, 2007. Dawson was given a unanimous decision by the judges, with scores of 118–108, 117–109, and 116–110. Dawson defended the WBC for the first time in June 2007, winning by technical forfeiture in round six. The match was shown live on Showtime as part of a card that featured former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver. Dawson won by fourth-round TKO in his second title defense on September 29, 2007. Dawson won by a tumultuous unanimous decision over challenger Glen Johnson in April 2008 as his third title defense. The three judges ruled in favour of the champion Dawson, who had a score of 116–112 in favour of him. Dawson's card was shown for the second time on showtime, with Tarver winning each featured bout.

Dawson resigned as WBC champion in mid-2008.

Dawson, who is married and has three children, also lives and trains in New Haven, Connecticut. John Scully, his coach, is called "Iceman" by his name. He was previously trained by Dan Birmingham, Floyd Mayweather Sr., and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.

Dawson fought IBF light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas on October 11, 2008. Dawson, who dominated the pace and delivered the majority of the fight's points, was more effective in beating his opponent out of place. Tarver did land the occasional punch, but Dawson was in control for the bulk of the battle. Dawson was knocked down by Tarver in the final round, the only knockdown in the fight, with 2:11 left. Dawson won the competition by a unanimous vote of 117–110 from two judges and 118–109 from the third judge. Dawson earned $800,000 for the fight, while Tarver earned $1 million.

Dawson released a press release on Sunday, the day after Joe Calzaghe's triumph over Roy Jones Jr. "I'm excited to bring Joe the curtain on his remarkable career in front of his family and friends, as well as 70,000 supporters," Dawson said. Calzaghe was supposed to return weeks later, as had been predicted coming up to the Jones Jr. fight. Dawson herself was highly lauded for the defunct Welsh champion's decision, saying, "I applaud Joe's decision." It's clear that he and his family gave it a lot of thought. Timing is everything, and leaving center stage at his peak is certainly comparable to Rocky Marciano and Jim Brown's retirements.

Dawson and Tarver fought in a rematch in Las Vegas on May 9, 2009, seven months after their first meeting. Dawson was in charge most of the contest, outworking Tarver a significant portion of the game, and winning another unanimous decision in a close match. The judges' scores were 117–111, 117–111, and 116–112, all in favor of Dawson.

Dawson rematch with Glen Johnson on May 27, 2009, after he vacated the IBF light heavyweight title to rematch him. Dawson defeated Glen Johnson once more on November 7, 2009. This time was more convincing, but the judges made it 117–111, 115–113, and 115–113 for Dawson, respectively.

Dawson's next move in his career was to regain the WBC title against Top 10 light heavyweight Jean Pascal on August 14, 2010 in Montreal, which was for the Ring light heavyweight champion title. After an accidental headbutt, Pascal won the round 11 by a technical decision. Pascal was up by a wide margin at the time of the suspension, according to all three judges.

Dawson returned to action on May 21, 2011, against Adrian Diaconu and Diaconu, who lost by a unanimous decision. Emanuel Steward's first fight was his first fight under his direction.

Dawson first won The Ring, WBC, and lineal light heavyweight titles despite being barred from action after being banned from a clinch. However, the TKO decision was declared a Technical Draw by the WBC and Hopkins remained the champion on October 20, 2011. The official decision of the California State Athletic Commission was changed to a No Contest (NC) on December 13, 2011. The WBC called a match between Hopkins and Dawson two days later.

Dawson and Bernard Hopkins returned to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on April 28, 2012. Dawson was the focal point of the fight, with Dawson dictating the majority of the action and pace. Hopkins will throw and land an occasional punch, but Dawson will land the more potent punches and outlast Hopkins for a large portion of the fight. Dawson was reportedly distracted mentally and brought him right back to focus after his coach, former Olympian Iceman John Scully, caught him mentally delving and brought him right back to focus. During HBO's Emanuel Steward and Jim Lampley's broadcast, the pivotal moment in the war was highlighted. Dawson went on to win the by majority vote, with the judges' scorecards indicating 114–114, 117–111, and 117–111.

Throughout the war, Compubox had Dawson outlanding Hopkins. Dawson landed 151 of 431 (35%) of his punches, to Hopkins' landing 106 of 400 (26%) of his opponents. Dawson said after the match, he is really interested in defeating Andre Ward, the WBC middleweight champion, as well as competing in a rematch with Jean Pascal.

Dawson stepped down a weight division (a rarity in the sport) to face WBA, WBC, The Ring and Lineal Super Middleweight champion, one of the world's best pound-for-pound champions Andre Ward.

Dawson was knocked out by Edison Miranda in sparring for the Ward battle, according to sources. The match got off to a tumultuous start, with both fighters bouncing out and only exchanging single shots, with Dawson landing his jab on Ward comfortably. A clash of heads changed the entire landscape of Ward's battle, dropping him to one knee with a right to the body and short overhand left hook in the third round. Dawson jumped to an 8-count and seemed to be dazed, but he managed to get out the round and return to his corner. Ward didn't appear to be stopping up, upping the pace, and grabbing a sluggish Dawson with a close left hook, causing him to fall to his knee and the ref give Dawson another 8 count. Dawson showed great courage to get out of the round and into the next four rounds, avoiding Wards' tumultuous left hooks that have little to do with him. Dawson seemed to have suffered from Wards' steady battery and, possibly due to weight loss as well, being struck flush with 4 shots in a row that appears to not take a knee. Dawson came to an end, asking Dawson if he wanted the confrontation to be stopped, but Dawson did not talk, but he had the body language of a wounded man. Ward retained his positions after the brawl was called off, but the confrontation was postponed.

Dawson returned to light heavyweight and defended his WBC, lineal, and The Ring titles against Haitian-Canadian Adonis Stevenson, a first time light heavyweight champion competing in his first match at light heavyweight. Dawson was battling in Montreal, Stevenson's adopted hometown, and where Dawson was fighting for the third time in two years.

Although Dawson was the most popular choice in the war, many were concerned that draining himself to fight Ward would have stifled him, and Ward's war had taken something from Dawson. He was spotted with a strong left hook and collapsed backwards to the ground early in the fight. Despite Dawson's screams and climbed before the count of eight, the referee noticed his legs were unsteady and ended the game at 1:11 of the first round. It was the first time in Dawson's career that he had been disqualified in the first round.

After losing the remainder of 2013 to Dawson, the two brothers were able to compete against journeyman George Blades, which was broadcast as part of the preliminary fight undercard of a Showtime event on June 14, 2014. The brawl took place in the cruiserweight division, with a maximum catchweight of 179 pounds. Dawson refused to gain weight for the cause, weighing in at 182.8 pounds and having to forfeit one-fifth of his $15,000 purse.

Dawson dropped the Blades out in the first round after dropping him twice. After the fight, he said he wanted to start competing for a world title again and that he would be fighting at light heavyweight.

Dawson's career was hampered again when he lost a split decision to Tommy Karpency on October 4, 2014. Dawson looked listless in the war, displaying little of his once-obscene athleticism. Dawson argued that he hurt his left hand in the third round, preventing him from throwing combinations.

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