Canadians love their fights.
Sure, the majority take place on ice during hockey games, but it doesn’t mean
they don’t appreciate boxing just as much.
The Bell Centre in Montreal
plays host to a pair of televised bouts on HBO sure to provide fan pleasing
action. “Bad” Chad Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs) of Las Vegas (via Connecticut) meets
Adonis Stevenson (20-1, 17 KOs) on his home turf in Quebec for the WBC light
heavyweight belt.
Perhaps it’s the Canadian air.
Both boxers nearly got sent to the penalty box during the weigh-in on Friday,
scuffling with each other before they were seperated. Dawson weighed in at
173.4 pounds; Stevenson at 174.2 pounds.
Dawson, age 30, dropped a
weight class to fight Andre Ward in September. It was a big mistake. Dawson got
dropped three times before the fight and was soundly thrashed before the fight
was stopped. His only other loss was in Montreal to Jean Pascal in 2010. Dawson
would love to avenge both in one fell swoop against Stevenson.
Stevenson is 35 years old. At
that age, every fight becomes crucial because every loss has more impact. He
also got a very late start to his professional boxing career at age 30. He has
been helped by fighting mainly at home in Quebec. Originally from Haiti,
Stevenson is a powerful boxer and he has stopped his last seven opponents.
Dawson knows what it’s like to
fight in front of the other fighter’s home town crowd. He fought Ward in
Oakland, Hopkins in Atlantic City, and Pascal in Montreal. But he has also
defeated Hopkins as well as Antonio Tarver, Tomasz Adamek, and Glen Johnson
twice.
Dawson said at the final news
conference this week that he needs to stay smart, pick his spots, and not let
him get off first. Stevenson will employ a very different approach. “I am going
to jump on him like a hungry, wild dog… I am going to hit him, I am going to
hurt him.” This was certainly Stevenson’s demeanor at the weigh-in.
Dawson doesn’t have
Stevenson’s power. But he is taller with a greater reach, and if he avoids
brawling he should be able to keep out of the way of Stevenson’s worst. Dawson
needs to show the judges plenty of activity, and needs to demonstrate that he
is in control of the ring and the fight to win a decision. As long as he stays
out of Stevenson’s way and doesn’t get goaded into a brawl, he should prevail.
In the televised undercard,
Yuriorkis Gamboa (22-0, 16 KOs) from Miami via Cuba and Darleys Perez (28-0, 19
KOs) of Colombia fight at lightweight. This is two weight classes above the
division where Gamboa made his name, featherweight. Perez was on the 2008
Colombian Olympic boxing team; Gamboa is another in a long line of Cuban
Olympic and amateur champions with a 2004 gold medal and four Cuban national
titles.
Perez, age 29, is naturally
bigger and stronger than Gamboa. He is also less experienced despite the
numbers in the professional record, and he has never faced an opponent with the
skills of Gamboa. Still, there are some question marks surrounding Gamboa. He
was out of the ring for 15 months, pulling out of a fight in April 2012 with
Brandon Rios due to what he claimed were contract problems. He is now
represented by Curtis “40 Cent” Jackson. Gamboa came back last December and won
a unanimous decision against Michael Farenas, but he took some punishment to
get it.
Gamboa weighed in at 134.2
pounds Perez weighed in at 134.6 pounds.
Perez has been sparring with
Cuban fighters to get a feel for Gamboa’s style. It’s a serious improvement in
the quality of his opponent, and whether he can impose his will through his
greater size and power on Gamboa will make for an intriguing fight. He has a
chance against Gamboa, but it’s likely a slim one. Sometimes that’s all a
motivated fighter needs.
“HBO World Championship
Boxing” airs at 10 p.m ET on Saturday, June 8 on HBO, with airings on HBO
Latino and replays throughout the weekend. (Source)
