Adonis Stevenson gatecrashes rankings!

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97 - @BoxingOpinions1

What a weekend it has been for Adonis 'Superman' Stevenson. The Canadian 35-year old entered the biggest fight of his career as a heavy underdog against WBC light-heavyweight world champ and division No.1 'Bad' Chad Dawson on Saturday night. However, the lively power puncher did "bad" things to Dawson in Montreal, scoring a 1st round knock out victory and turning the light-heavyweight division on it's head. He now finds himself in an incredible position...

Chad Dawson Vs Adonis Stevenson - Fight Preview

By Jack Sumner @Jack_Sumner_

Light heavyweight king Chad Dawson returns to action this Saturday when he defends his WBC and Ring Magazine titles against dangerous puncher Adonis ‘Superman’ Stevenson. Fighting in the challenger’s homeland at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, Dawson aims to bounce back from last September’s damaging defeat to super middleweight champion Andre Ward.

The Curious Case Of Bernard Hopkins

By Jack Sumner @Jack_Sumner_

http://southpawjacks.wordpress.com/

'The Executioner'

When Oscar De La Hoya returned to his corner following the third round of a certain 2004 middleweight unification bout, he had to be pretty content with how the opening stanzas of the fight had unfolded.

As he positioned himself onto his stool, his trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr placed both his hands upon the Golden Boy’s shoulders and beamed a smile before delivering an assured assessment of the opponent’s chances in the fight.

“The man’s an old man. Look at me, he’s an old man. He’s looking the worst that I’ve ever seen him.”

The old man who sat across the ring was a 39-year-old Bernard Hopkins. Throughout those opening rounds, a 31-year-old De La Hoya had outworked the bigger and stronger fighter with greater activity and hand speed, with Hopkins looking as sluggish and as ‘old’ as Mayweather Sr suggested.

Andre Ward Vs Chad Dawson - Fight Preview & Prediction (PriceysBoxinThoughts)

Jack Price gives his thoughts on the highly anticipated bout between Andre Ward & Chad Dawson.

PriceysBoxinThoughts is a quickly-growing YouTube channel set up by young aspiring boxing pundit Jack Price. The whole channel is dedicated to discussing boxing so if you're a fan of the sport, please subscribe!

Bailey Vs Alexander set for September 8th!

Randall Bailey with his IBF title.

On September 8th, newly crowned IBF welterweight champ Randall Bailey will make the first defence of his title against American star Devon Alexander. The fight is not yet 100% confirmed but it is almost definite to happen.

Devon Alexander.

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer gave his thoughts on the fight: "We have agreed on the terms and it's going to be a terrific fight... You always have a good fight when it involves Randall Bailey. He's one veteran you can't turn your back on, and it's a great opportunity for Devon."

In my opinion, this is a very, very good fight between a man who is moving towards the end of his career and wants to give it all he's got before it's over (Bailey) and a man who is on his way up and wants to prove that he can make it all the way to the top.

However, there is a potentially very big problem. The fight goes directly head-to-head with a much bigger fight between Andre Ward and Chad Dawson. This is a bit of a surprise as there were available dates very close to the date that was chosen. I can't think of any reason why they would chose September 8th, other than that Golden Boy may believe that the Ward-Dawson fight will somehow help to promote the Bailey-Dawson fight even though they are in different channels.

The venue or location has not been set for this fight yet. The most likely place that has been talked about at the moment is St. Louis. This would make the most sense as Alexander is a big attraction there so the ticket sales would receive a huge boost if it did take place there.

It's very hard to predict a clear winner in this fight. Alexander is obviously has the more superior boxing skills  but with Bailey you always have that danger of a one-punch knock out. All you have to do is look at his last performance against Mike Jones on June 9th. Bailey was well behind on points when he pulled off a fantastic knock out victory in the 11th round.

I am really looking forward to this fight. I just hope that it isn't shown at exactly the same time as the fight between Dawson and Ward.

Ward Vs Dawson looking even more likely...

Andre Ward                                 Chad Dawson

According to reports, pound-for-pound contender Andre Ward has contacted the WBC and asked them to reinstate him as the full world champion instead of the "champion in recess." The reason for this is that he is looking to take part in a 'super-fight' with light-heavyweight world champion Chad Dawson.

This means that the fight is almost a definite for September 8th and it also means that it will be Dawson who moves down in weight as the fight will be for the WBC super-middleweight title. Dawson's trainer John Scully has said that he is not very happy about Dawson dropping to super-middleweight as he hasn't fought at that weight since 2006. But, 'Bad' Chad is obviously ignoring this advice as he has said on numerous occasions that he is willing to drop from 175lb to 168lb.

The WBC had ordered a vacant title fight between interim champ Nikola Sjekloca and super-middleweight contender Anthony Dirrell, but Dirrell has been involved in a motorcycle accident that has put him out of action for around six months. According to promoter Yvon Michel, the WBC is waiting to see how long Dirrell will be out for before they make a move.

No matter what happens with the titles, Ward Vs Dawson is almost a definite fight for September and it is looking very likely that it will happen at super-middleweight. With the WBC world title on the line, it would be a lot more interesting. But, either way, it is a good and interesting fight.

Andre Ward Vs Chad Dawson likely for September 8th...

Andre Ward                                               Chad Dawson

There have been reports that the promoters of super-middleweight No.1 Andre Ward and light-heavyweight champion Chad Dawson are discussing a fight for September 8th, with Los Angeles and Atlantic City being possible hosts.

Both fighters are coming off great performances, with Ward dominating Carl Froch and Dawson out-pointing 46-year old ring legend Bernard Hopkins. The fight will be relatively easy to negotiate as both men want it to happen and they have both said that they do not mind moving up or down in weight.

Dawson called Ward out in an interview just after his fantastic performance against Hopkins. A week later he also said that he is willing to move down to 168lb (super-middleweight) so that Ward doesn't have any excuses if he loses.

Ward has been talking about moving up to light-heavyweight for a very long time as he has basically run out of challenges at his current weight, except for maybe Lucian Bute, but most people believe that even he is not good enough to beat pound-for-pound contender Ward.

It will not be the most exciting of fights as both men are crafty tacticians who rarely get dragged into toe-to-toe brawls and go all-out to hurt their opponent. However, it will still be a great fight as it's between two fighters that are pound-for-pound contenders in their prime. It will also give us an inkling as to whether Andre Ward has what it takes to compete at light-heavyweight.

Dawson willing to move down to fight Ward...

'Bad' Chad Dawson.

WBC light-heavyweight champion Chad Dawson has revealed that he is tired of fighting older opponents and he wants to challenge some of the best fighters in the world. Starting with the No.1 super-middleweight and top pound-for-pound contender Andre Ward. Dawson has even said that he is willing to move down to 168 to make the fight happen.

No.1 Super-middleweight Andre Ward.

"I can make 168. 175 is where I'm at and I'm on top of the division. I can make 168 so any of the guys down there, any of the big names, I'm ready for it," said the 29-year old.

The 'old' opponents that Dawson is talking about are Bernard Hopkins, Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson who were all beaten by 'Bad' Chad. All of these fighters are way past their best so Dawson probably feels that he still hasn't properly proved himself. This is why he is looking to seek out new challenges at super-middlweight. However, he has said that he would stay at light-heavyweight if he gets the opportunity to fight the winner of Tavoris Cloud Vs Jean Pascal.

Pascal is the only person that has beaten Dawson in his 32-fight career. The fight was stopped because of a cut and had to go to the scorecards early. Pascal was the clear winner but 'Bad' Chad did have the Frenchman in trouble towards the end of the fight. The Cloud-Pascal fight takes place on August 11th which is a problem as Dawson has already said that he wants to return to the ring in September, so the fight that we will likely see is Dawson Vs Ward.

Personally, I think a clash with Ward would be a lot better for boxing fans and the two fighters as they will know if either of them can mix it up with the best of a different weight division. Ward will likely have a little too much for Dawson but it has the potential to be a great fight.

Cleverly Vs Hopkins could still happen...

Bernard Hopkins                                       Nathan Cleverly

According to Golden Boy CEO Robert Schaefer, a fight between WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly and former world champion Bernard Hopkins could still happen. Schaefer believes that the 47-year old can still compete with the top fighters in the division.

"It's going to be totally up to him. I could see him, for example, challenging for the WBO world title against Nathan Cleverly... I think Bernard turned in a great performance (against Chad Dawson). He certainly still is one of the top light-heavyweights,no question about it - And I think he can give everybody a tough night."

Cleverly and his promoter Frank Warren have been talking about this fight for a very long time but Hopkins hasn't really had time to consider it as he has been focusing on his fight with Dawson. Now that the rematch with 'Bad' Chad is out of the way, he may start to consider a fight with the Welshman. However, there is one problem that could prevent this fight from happening... Cleverly and Warren want the fight to be in Wales (Cleverly's home country). I'm almost certain that Hopkins will not want to travel to Wales and risk dodgy scoring so the fight will most likely not happen there. If the fight does happen it will most likely take place somewhere in America or maybe London.

Most people believe that we will see Hopkins in the ring at least one more time. Whether it will be a farewell fight or a top level clash, I'm not sure. The most reasonable opponent is Cleverly as there really is no other top level opponents in the light-heavyweight division that the 'Executioner' hasn't fought.

If we find out any more news or updates about this possible fight, we will let you know straight away.

With age comes weakness...

New WBC champ Chad Dawson.

Last night 47-year old Bernard Hopkins lost his WBC light-heavyweight title to 'Bad' Chad Dawson. 


The 'Executioner' actually started to show signs of old age. In the years gone by he has just looked like any other world class boxer in their mid 30's when in reality he has been over 15 years older than most of his recent opponents, but in this fight you could see that his age was affecting him. He was lazy throughout the whole fight and did nowhere near enough to convince the judges although one judge somehow managed to score it as a draw.

Usually Hopkins waits to around the 7th or 8th round and then starts to put the pressure on and punish his opponents but this time he just looked like he physically couldn't. Dawson boxed very smartly, just keeping his shorter opponent at a distance. The official scorecards were; 114-114, 117-111, 117-111.

At one point during the fight we all thought we were going to see a repeat of the controversial first fight. Hopkins came back off the rope and made a rugby-like tackle on Dawson and just before that Hopkins almost went flying out the ring when Dawson pivoted round a charging Hopkins and gave him a little nudge on the way.

In the post-fight interview the new world champ Dawson called out pound-for-pound contender and No.1 super-middleweight Andre Ward. Dawson must have been overwhelmed by the experience as in reality he is not even on the same level as Ward.

Witherspoon stuns Mitchell with a hard right-hand.

Acting as chief-support on the card was Seth Mitchell Vs Chazz Witherspoon. We almost saw one of the biggest upsets of the year when Mitchell was wobbled by a hard right hand Witherspoon. Mitchell could barely stand and his slightly bigger opponent continued to club away at his head but the ex-american footballer managed to last out the round. When the bell rang for the second Mitchell still looked a little unsteady but he started to put the pressure on and ended up winning the round. Both fighters rose of their stools a little dazed but as soon as the third round started Mitchell landed a crashing left hook that sent Witherspoon to the canvas. Witherspoon beat the count but a few moments later the referee jumped in to stop the fight.

Whilst this fight proved that Mitchell needs a lot more experience before he is up there with one of the top fighters in the heavyweight division he also proved that he has the power that can trouble anybody out there.

Hopkins Vs Cleverly could happen sooner than we thought...

WBO Champ Nathan Cleverly.

Bernard Hopkins and his promoters have admitted that a summer fight 
with WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly is a real 
possibility if they both manage to beat their opponents on April 28th. 

Injury from Hopkins-Dawson I

Cleverly will defend his title against Robin Krasniqi at the Royal 
Albert Hall on the same night that WBC world champion Bernard Hopkins attempts to defend his title against highly ranked Chad Dawson in a rematch. 

The first bout between Hopkins and Dawson was very controversial. 
Hopkins, 47, originally lost the title due to an injury in the second round but it was 
handed back to him when the result was changed to a no-contest. 

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer apparently held talks with 
Cleverly's promoter Frank Warren last week and he is confident that the 
fight will happen if both of their fighters can defend their world 
titles. 

"Hopkins-Cleverly is a real possibility," Schaefer told 
boxingscene.com. "We don't want to jinx anything but, if everything 
goes well, I would very much like to make that fight."

Dawson-Stevenson - Where do they go next?

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