Preview for Pascal vs. Dawson
Two time former light-heavyweight world champion Chad Dawson (29-0, 17 KO's) squares off against current WBC light-heavy world champion Jean Pascal (25-1, 16 KO's) on August 14th in Montreal at the Bell Centre. This augers well for the sport of Boxing in Canada. Mind you, Montreal has always been a hot bed of Boxing action going back to the beginning of the last century. There have been a slew of world title fights in Montreal in the last five years alone, making it the undisputed Boxing capital of Canada.
The fight will be broadcast on HBO. When it comes to broadcasting professional Boxing, HBO is the gold standard. The Pascal-Dawson fight has been postponed several times due to injuries Pascal suffered in his last fight against Adrian Diaconu. Pascal eked out a close but controversial win over Diaconu. Pascal required surgery to remove a bone chip from his right shoulder after the Diaconu fight. Most observers think that Dawson will win this fight easily as he has faced a much higher calibre of fighters than Pascal. Pascal's biggest fight to date was a unanimous decision loss to Carl Froch. Froch fought a very simple fight against Pascal, constantly pressuring him throughout the bout. Froch turned their fight into a phone booth war, forcing the taller and longer-limbed Pascal to fight on the inside rather than from the outside, at a distance, which he much prefers. This negated Pascal's reach and height advantage. Pascal was unable to make the necessary adjustments against Froch in order to turn the fight around, and took a prolonged beating in the process.
"Bad" Chad Dawson has had two wars against the always tough former world light-heavy champ, Glen Johnson. He won both fights against Johnson by utilizing his superior hand and foot speed and by putting his reach advantage to good use. Dawson is a very smart fighter and is able to make any adjustments necessary during a fight, allowing him to counter anything an opponent might throw at him. He can box and he can bang. He is also able to outthink his opponents on the fly, making him a tough man to outwit in the ring. He is an understandable favourite to win this fight. Dawson is itching to get back into the ring as the various postponements of this fight have taken him out of his normal routine of fighting 2-3 times a year. By the time the two combatants step into the ring on August 14th, they will have been in training for this fight for over 8 months!
Each time I have watched Jean Pascal fight, I have always believed that he rises to the occasion depending on the talent of his opponent and the importance of the fight at hand. This fight will be the biggest match of his career. If Pascal has hopes of becoming the universally recognized number one light-heavy in the world, the best time to stake his claim would be when he enters the ring on August 14th against Dawson. Chad Dawson is looking at this fight as just another payday and is probably already looking past Pascal to his next fight. To be perfectly blunt, Jean Pascal simply cannot approach the talent level of a Chad Dawson. The great thing about Boxing is you never know what will happen. According to their records and their respective talents, Dawson should handily beat Pascal. One thing is for sure. The Montreal crowd will be on Pascal's side and this may unnerve Chad Dawson although I wouldn't count on it.
The Dawson camp has expressed some trepidation regarding the notoriously inept and corrupt scoring for which Montreal fight judges have become famous . Should Pascal pull off an upset victory, it would be a major boon for Canadian Boxing and turn Montreal into one of the Boxing capitals of the world. Montreal is the city of champions with the legendary Montreal Canadiens and the not so legendary Montreal Alouettes proudly displaying the city's heart on their sleevs during numerous championship parades. Jean Pascal would like to add his name to that list in a parade of his own.
