Inevitably, whenever a boxer suffers a surprising and decisive defeat, questions are raised about his ability, past and present. When the loss is a knockout defeat, those questions are doubled. So it goes now with Chad Dawson, who must weather a battery of speculation over whether he was really “Bad Chad”, the Top 10 Pound for Pound light heavyweight kingpin after all.

Dawson evaded this issue when he was stopped by Andre Ward, as everyone looks upon Ward as the second coming of Roy Jones, and Dawson was likely drained from having to shave several pounds off his frame to make the super middleweight limit. Not this time: getting clocked in a one-punch knockout by Adonis Stevenson puts Dawson under the microscope Just as inevitable as the doubt, however, are questions as to whether or not the doubt is fair.

Bad Chad’s Mixed Record

I’m splitting the difference here by saying there was nothing false or inflated about Chad Dawson’s status as the (now dethroned) top dog of the 175 lbs weight class. Hands down, he earned it, and the record shows that. Yet at the same time, the record shows Dawson was never a top 10 pound for pound world beating superhero, and assertions that he was have been exposed as overblown.

Run down the list of Dawson’s big wins: Eric Harding, Tomasz Adamek, Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver, Adrian Diaconu, Bernard Hopkins. True, Harding and Diaconu are fringe contenders, and Tarver and Hopkins were old and on the downside, but none of those guys are anything to sneeze at. Adamek in particular went on to be a well-respected, lower-tier heavyweight contender, and a cruiserweight champion, so that win has become more impressive over time.

Yet none of these guys were top 10 pound for pound material at the time that Dawson beat them (especially if you discount the surge of hype Hopkins received for becoming the oldest boxing champion in history for the second time), nor did they become as such afterward. Against that, Dawson was out-worked by Jean Pascal (who was in turn beaten by Carl Froch and out-foxed by B-Hop), beaten up by Andre Ward, and smashed by Adonis Stevenson.

The record is clear. Dawson is a world class fighter, and his place at the top of the light heavyweight heap was earned through hard work and merit. At the same time, Dawson never did anything at light heavyweight to justify a place as even the #10 P4P boxer in the world. Somewhere in the #11 to #20 category, perhaps, but not higher than that.

[Editor’s Note: Dawson was last rated on our top 20 pound for pound list at #15 in June 2012, following his win over Bernard Hopkins.]

Is Dawson Getting Old Early?

Some are speculating on whether Dawson is getting old early, pointing to his brutal encounter with Ward, his one-punch knockout by Stevenson, and unconfirmed rumors that Dawson was put down by gatekeeper Edison Miranda (Edison Miranda!!) in sparring. The idea is hard to discard, as the sport has seen some brilliant talents peak early and burn out quickly.

Even so, Dawson hasn’t been in that many brutal wars, and insofar as we know he isn’t one for coking up or drinking down at the club, nor does his weight balloon between fights. With the usual culprits behind an early decline ruled out, it is unlikely Dawson is experiencing any such thing.

Far more likely is that Dawson’s chin is merely average, or that he suffered an early round flash bell-ringing (also not unknown in the sport — ask David Price!). Perhaps Adonis Stevenson is super-powerful, or that Stevenson merely has Dawson’s number. One thing is for sure: the rematch will settle most or all of the doubt surrounding Chad Dawson.

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