The WBC light heavyweight championship of the world will be at stake on Oct. 15th when titleholder Bernard Hopkins (55-5, 32 KOs) takes on fellow American Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 Kos) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
It’s a pretty good matchup, but the selling point of this fight is the fact that Hopkins is now 46 years old and the 29-year-old Dawson is a former light heavyweight champion. However, it’s not really worthy of being a pay-per-view event, which HBO is broadcasting it as.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.com has the odds of a Dawson win at -135 with a Hopkins victory at +115. The over/under is set at 9 ½ rounds with the over at -700 and the under at +500. Visit 5Dimes.com to bet on Bernard Hopkins vs Chad Dawson or to check the up to date odds.
Preview/Prediction
Hopkins should be commended for achieving what he has at his age, but the fact is, he’s not really an elite boxer anymore. Over the past several years he fights have been relatively dull as he simply doesn’t throw enough punches to entertain anybody. He’s also been on both ends of dubious decisions because his fights never really produce clear cut winners. The reason for this is that his opponents usually get lulled to sleep and fight down to his level.
Dawson, on the other hand, has the necessary skills to beat Hopkins, but it’s unclear if he possesses the mental toughness and adaptability to pull out a win. His only loss was a controversial one to Jean Pascal. The 2010 fight in Montreal, Canada was stopped in the 11th round after Dawson suffered a bad cut from an accidental head butt; however the southpaw was beginning to hurt Pascal at the time of the stoppage.
Hopkins also fought Pascal. In fact he took him on twice in Canada and both of those were controversial too. The first one ended in a draw after Hopkins was floored a few times early in the bout and he took the rematch by unanimous decision.
Hopkins has been fighting as a pro for 23 years now, so there’s no doubt he knows all of the tricks in the book and is one of the most experienced pros ever in the modern era. Some of his biggest wins were against Felix Trinidad, Antonio Tarver, Oscar De La Hoya, Roy Jones, Kelly Pavlik, and Winky Wright. His losses came to Jones, Joe Calzaghe, Jermain Taylor (twice) and in his pro debut back in 1988 to Clinton Mitchell.
Dawson’s best wins have come against Tomaz Adameck, Glen Johnson, and twice against Antonio Tarver. Losing to Pascal was considered an upset in the boxing world. Dawson likes to stay active in the ring and he throws quite a few punches, which is something that should bother Hopkins. However, he doesn’t possess the power to really do a lot of damage. Dawson also recently parted ways with veteran trainer Emanuel Steward, and that could be something he ends up regretting. He’s now being trained by John Scully, his former trainer.
Both Dawson and Hopkins are talking knockout, but Dawson hasn’t knocked anybody out since 2007 and Hopkins hasn’t had one since stopping De La Hoya back in 2004. Dawson has the advantage when it comes to size, skill, age, and style, but Hopkins often frustrates his opponents and somehow ends up winning fights on close decisions.
The best way to beat Hopkins is to constantly pressure him by throwing as many punches as possible in each round. Hopkins can be outworked and Dawson can’t afford to slack off. If Dawson keeps his work rate up then only thing that can stop him is Hopkins landing a knockout blow, which isn’t very likely. Look for Dawson to take the title by a unanimous, but close decision at the end of 12 rounds.
Play: Chad Dawson -135
Written by: Ian Palmer
Bernard Hopkins • bet on boxing • Chad Dawson • Light Heavyweight • WBC Championship