DAWSON IMPRESSIVE BUT LACKLUSTER

Hello Dougie,
I thought Chad Dawson looked impressive in his one-sided win over Glen Johnson, which was what I expected. The sad thing is I wasn't surprised that it was so boring. While Dawson is an amazing talent he sold himself short against Johnson in front of his home crowd. Dawson could have stopped Johnson had he let his hands go more. Johnson couldn't even find him. He looked flatout old, but Dawson instead decided to put on a boxing clinic.

While he was able to demonstrate his skill in a boxing match he isn't going to gain the kind of following he thinks he deserves. I would have expected him to want to put on a hell of a fight in his backyard but I doubt his win Saturday will help him sell tickets in the future.

I'm glad David Haye beat Nikolai Valuev. At least no one will need to see Ruiz vs Valuev III. Hopefully, if Haye KO's him in a title defense we'll never hear from him again.

I know this fight probably won't happen, but I’d love to watch Haye and Adamek go at it at heavyweight. I would have liked to see it happen at cruiserweight, but now that they’re back in the same division I don't see why not. Maybe the winner of that fight can face one of the Klitschkos. Your thoughts? -- Michael

I guarantee you that Haye-Adamek would be a fight of the year candidate (and when was the last time a heavyweight bout was one of the top scraps of the year?). I think it’s a showdown that very well could take place next year -- in NYC, New Jersey or London -- because both fighters will bring in fans, there’s decent money they can split up, and the media will likely get behind the winner as a legit challenge to either Klitschko.

Of course, before Haye can look forward to future high-profile challenges, he first has to defend his shiny new WBA belt vs. the Quietman, which is never easy. But who knows? Maybe Haye will look spectacular against Ruiz. The fighters who have spanked the New Englander in recent years were talented dudes who came up in weight (Roy Jones and James Toney). I can envision Haye boxing Ruiz in much the same fashion that Jones did, but with more power and aggression.

If Haye KOs Ruiz, he’ll win a lot of fans in the U.S.

I was also both impressed and bored to tears by the boxing clinic Dawson put on Johnson, but I never expected the young gun to go for the knockout against the 40-year-old vet. Why? Because I know that Johnson has one of the best chins in the business. The man hadn’t been dropped in 63 pro fights going into Saturday’s rematch. I’ve never seen Johnson so much as wobbled, not even during his one stoppage loss to Bernard Hopkins back in 1997.

If Dawson had visibly stunned or dropped Johnson at some point during their rematch I would agree with you that he should have gunned for a stoppage, but boxing in a more aggressive manner Saturday night would have just given the old man his one opportunity to turn the fight.

No, Saturday’s win probably didn’t increase Dawson’s marketability but fights with fellow young guns Tavoris Cloud and Jean Pascal will.

NO WAY HAYE

Wassup Doug,
I watched the Haye-Valuev fight in a packed pub last night. There were probably the best part of 100 people in there (it wasn't a big pub), and not a single one of us had Haye winning the fight. Of course we were delighted, and cheered when he got the decision, because we wanted him to win, but we all felt a sense of annoyance at the decision and a bit of guilt for Valuev.

The man must have been seriously p_ssed off at losing his world title like that. The general consensus, over several subsequent pints of lager, was that it was a Don King decision. This p_ssed me off the most, because as a boxing fan I thought (maybe naively) that the sport was past that.

I was a tiny bit inebriated by the time the first bell rung so maybe I'll see it differently if I watch it again, and the fight report on this website doesn't make any mention of the result being controversial, but if I was Valuev I'd tell John Ruiz to get lost (and we'd all agree) and demand a rematch as soon as possible.

One last thing - if Carl Froch wins the Super-Six I think you should cut off your pony tail. I wouldn't worry too much though. All the best. -- Tom, Oxford, England

I think my pony tail is safe, Tom. Mikkel Kessler will see to that.

As for the Valuev-Haye fight, I have to point that while I'm all for drinking beer -- especially while watching boxing -- I don't think mixing alcohol and trying to score a fight is a good idea.

I don't think the decision rendered Saturday was a robbery, and I seriously doubt it was a "Don King" decision since his Hairness co-promotes Valuev and doesn't have a piece of Haye.

I thought it was a close fight.

I scored it 115-113 (or seven round to five) for Haye, but I thought a draw would have been fair. Valuev wasn’t effective enough to win the fight but Haye didn’t do enough to take the title. If Haye hadn’t caught the giant with that hook in the final round the fight would have been absolutely uneventful.

However, I’ve got to give Haye a little bit of props. I didn’t think he could box a disciplined stick-and-move fight, and he did. I didn’t think he had the stamina to avoid Valuev’s pressure for 12 rounds. I was wrong. He out-pointed (narrowly in my opinion) a fighter I thought would gradually grind him down to a late stoppage.

So while I was under-whelmed by his overall performance, I was impressed with his ability. He’s got a cooler head under fire than I though he did.

Well done, Mr. Haye, maybe you’re not Jeremy Williams with a British accent.

FEEDBACK ON DAWSON-JOHNSON

What's crackin' Dougie? Just read Dan Rafael's piece on ESPN and I really think that Dawson deserves more credit for his showing Saturday night rather than criticism. He did what he needed to do to get the ‘W,’ and did so in rather convincing fashion, in my opinion.

You can't fault a guy for not going for the kill when it's obvious that he's putting himself at (unnecessary) risk in doing so. Johnson is one of the most rugged fighters out there and he surely packs a wallop. Dawson and his team knew this and fought accordingly. I'm getting a little tired of people just clamoring for the KO. Yes, it's great when it happens, but a guy like Rafael should know better than to fault Chad for not trying to KO or be KO'd. -- Vinod

I don’t think The Notorious D.A.N. disrespected Dawson. Rafael clearly respects Dawson’s skill and talent, he even suggested that the light heavyweight is pound-for-pound material, but he wanted to state in his post-bout article what most fans watching live and on TV were thinking during the fight: that it was a boring contest.

There’s nothing wrong with what Rafael wrote. That’s called keepin’ it real.

And he didn’t blast Dawson for not scoring, or going for, the KO. He just wanted the faster and younger man (by 13 years) to press the issue a little more. Dawson would have these occasional offensive flare ups that forced Johnson into a defensive shell and even backed the hardnosed veteran up a few times, but then the young gun would back off and move and pose for the rest of the round. What are fans and boxing writers supposed to do during those moments of inaction? Stand up and applaud?

IS HAYE GOOD FOR THE HEAVYWEIGHTS?

Hey Dougie,
I wanted to get your thoughts on David Haye and what kind of attraction and excitement he could now bring to the heavyweight marketplace now that he has a piece of the heavyweight titles. I viewed the dull, but necessary strategy he employed against Valuev as exactly what the heavyweight division needed. We all can appreciate the dominance of the two Klitchkos, but let’s face it they're style isn't the most exciting thing in the world to watch. With that said I believe Haye will come into his defense against Ruiz in terrific shape, much like he was on Saturday, but hopefully taking more risks to land big shots, thus generating the exciting heavyweight fight we've been overdue for. Anyway, I’d love to hear what you think about all this and the impact Haye will make as a heavyweight titlist, take it easy and keep up the amazing work! – Blake Catanzano, Union City, CA

If Haye can recapture his normally offensive-minded style vs. the Quietman and win in exciting fashion, he will not only further his claim as a legit beltholder and heavyweight contender (because Ruiz is still dangerous), he will become the straw that mixes the drink of the sport’s former glamour division.

Haye’s title defenses against Chris Arreola and Tomasz Adamek would generate major interest in the U.S. and Europe, and there’s no way those fights wouldn’t be shootouts. If Haye were to come out on top in those slugfests he would probably emerge as a brighter star than the Klitschkos and a showdown with either brother would be the biggest heavyweight fight since Lewis-Tyson.


Dougie can be reached at dougiefischer@yahoo.com