Dawson: This is retirement for Hopkins; He didn’t want this fight

By Dan Ambrose: Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KO’s) sees this as the retirement fight for WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO’s) on October 15th, as Dawson intends on beating the 46-year-old Hopkins so badly that they’ll realize that it’s the end of the road for him.

Dawson was recently surprised and shocked that Hopkins was already planning fights for after the Dawson-Hopkins fight, as if a win for Hopkins over Dawson was a forgone conclusion. Dawson found it amusing because the only direction he sees for Hopkins is retirement, and not fights against the likes of Lucian Bute.

“I don’t think Bernard wanted this fight,” Dawson said. “This was a fight he had to take. There’s no way around it. I watched Bernard do a lot of interviews. He never once said my name. I couldn’t believe it. He goes around, [saying] Chad Dawson is a good fighter, but I want to fight Bute; I want [Steve] Cunningham; I want this guy.’ Like he’s already setting up fights for after this fight. There won’t be any fights after this fight. This is retirement.”

It is funny to see Hopkins talking about fights beyond Dawson, because he simply doesn’t match up with the younger 29-year-old Dawson. This isn’t going to be a fight for Hopkins against an old Roy Jones Jr., a limited Kelly Pavlik or a Jean Pascal, who gassed out after four rounds in both Hopkins-Pascal fights.

Dawson is a much different fighter and is going to be presenting a challenge that Hopkins doesn’t have the style or the youth to beat. Dawson is someone that would beat Hopkins at any age. This is more of a case of Dawson being just too good for Hopkins, and on October 15th we’re going to see that. Hopkins will try to turn the fight into a dull bout with a lot of clinching and holding. No doubt he’ll be trying to limit what Dawson does offensively, but it wont work because Dawson has quick feet and will keep from getting into wrestling matches with Hopkins on the inside.

I doubt Hopkins will retire if he loses, but it will definitely knock him back off the top of the light heavyweight hill that’s for sure. Hopkins can always beat Pascal again and still maybe talk his way into a fight with Lucian Bute, but it won’t be wise for him to take on Dawson again and get beaten twice.

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