The Fight Network

In a major Boxing match, a highly regarded American star, Chad Dawson, once thought to be unbeatable, and long considered one of the finest fighters in the world, was soundly defeated by a Canadian fighter and current world champion, Jean Pascal, on home soil at the Montreal Forum. In what can only be termed a major upset in the light-heavyweight division, Montreal's Jean Pascal (26-1) successfully defended his WBC light-heavy title against the heavily favored American and former champ, "Bad" Chad Dawson (29-1). Pascal was declared the winner on points after the ref stopped the fight in the 11th round due to an accidental clash of heads left Dawson with a deep cut over his right eye, which clearly prevented him from continuing on in the fight. The cut spewed blood like an erupting volcano spews lava. The cut was egregious enough that referee Michael Griffin clearly had no option but to stop the fight in the 11th round and go to the score cards for a decision.

It should be noted that Chad Dawson did not object or protest the stoppage in any way as he knew that he could not continue with blood spurting into his right eye in an ever increasing volume. Let's be clear here about one thing. The head butt was initiated by Dawson's forward movement. In other words, he created the situation by his own initiative, moving his head forward into Pascal's head. Dawson, the taller of the two fighters, took a long step forward, propelling himself into Pascal, and it was this forward movement which created the butt which left him with the cut over his right eye, which led to the fight being stopped.

This didn't stop his promoter Gary Shaw from repeatedly claiming the butt was intentional by Pascal, and placing blame on referee Michael Griffin, judge Jack Woodward, Celine Dion, Rusty Staub, the Olympic Stadium, and whatever other crutch he tried to create out of thin air. I was rather disappointed to see Dawson's trainer, former light-heavy champ, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, get into the blame game by vociferously complaining to the referee that the butt was intentional by Pascal. That's not only wrong but rather unsportsmanlike. You're also supposed to lose with grace. Dawson simply lost too many early and middle rounds to be anywhere within striking distance on the scorecards. I said lost and not gave away because Pascal was eager to mix it up continuously with Dawson throughout the fight. He threw everything he had in his arsenal at Dawson. He left nothing behind in the dressing room. He mixed it up with every chance he got. He hurt Dawson often and it was only Dawson's championship experience and skill level which prevented him from suffering a KO loss.

Pascal gave Dawson a good thrashing through the early and middle rounds because he seemed to have more spark in him than Dawson. Dawson seemed to be walking through this fight, not taking Pascal seriously until he was too far behind in the scorecards and needed a kayo to pull out a win. The ref made the correct decision by going to the scorecards after it was declared that Dawson could not continue. Pascal was delcared the winner by unanimous decision with scores of 106-103 (twice) and 108-101 (Canadian judge Jack Woodburn). Pascal controlled the early and middle rounds, landing heavy shots on Dawson and staggering him several times. The later rounds belonged to Dawson, who almost knocked out Pascal, just before the fight was stopped because of the cut incurred by Dawson. Even so, I thought Jack Woodburn's score was a bit excessive. Dawson was coming on and starting to win some rounds which was not reflected in Woodburn's scorecard. The head butt was bittersweet for Dawson because had the fight not been stopped in the 11th round, it seemed that Dawson almost certainly would have knocked out Jean Pascal before the end of the 12th round. The fight seemed to be going in that direction from my observation. However, as my grandfather used to say to me, "Ifs and ans are pots and pans." In other words, should have, could have and would have. A rematch is a certainty and, with the controversial way in which this fight ended, HBO will not have any problem selling this fight to public.

Did Jean Pascal deserve this victory? Absolutely. He worked hard throughout the fight, bringing the battle to Dawson, forcing Dawson to fight his fight. He crowded Dawson, not allowing him the distance he needs to land those long-armed stinging jabs and jolting right crosses. Let's be honest here. At the time of the stoppage, Pascal was way ahead in the fight. He was also exhausted and out on his feet. Chad Dawson had him on the ropes and was savagely punching away at Pascal's torso and head. Dawson was tagging Pascal with wicked shots and it seemed like only a matter of seconds before Pascal either slumped unconscious to the floor or referee Michael Griffin stepped in and mercifully stopped the onslaught.

After the fight, Dawson's promoter Gary Shaw refused to give Pascal any credit for the victory and continued to claim that the head-butt which caused the severe cut above Dawson's right eye was clearly intentional and that Pascal should have been disqualified or, at the very least, had a point deducted from his score. When Shaw was told repeatedly by the press that the instant replay showed that the butt was accidental, and if anyone was to blame it was his fighter Dawson, he had no response although his facial expressions clearly belied what he was thinking. One thing Shaw did mention several times was that Dawson would exercise his right to a rematch and that Michael Griffin would not be the referee of the return bout. He also stated forcefully that Canadian judge Jack Woodburn, who scored the fight 108-101 for Pascal, would not be considered as a judge for the rematch.

Gary Shaw believed that the ref should have allowed Dawson to fight the last two rounds rather than stop the fight. Well, of course he thinks that after the fact because his fighter was clearly winning the later rounds and seemed to be on the verge of scoring a knockout. Dawson seemed to disagree with him during the fight as he put up little or no argument when the fight was stopped in the 11th round. Dawson took a jab a Pascal after the fight calling his opponent's victory, "Little." Perhaps if Dawson had landed more jabs like that in the early rounds, he may not have needed a knockout to win.

One last thought on this fight. If the referee in the Troy Ross - Steve Cunningham IBF cruiserweight title fight had acted as professionally as did Michael Griffin during the Pascal - Dawson fight, then Canada would now have two world champions in the higher weight divisions.