By Dan Ambrose: Former IBF/WBC light heavyweight champ Chad Dawson (32-3, 18 KOs) fights tonight on a Showtime televised fight card against Tommy Karpency (23-4-1, 14 KOs) at the Foxwoods Resort, in Mashantucket, Connecticut, USA.
The 32-year-old Dawson has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights, and he’s in a situation here where he cannot afford to lose if he wants to try and bring his career back to it’s former level. Dawson’s career has taken a major hit with knockout losses to Andre Ward and Adonis Stevenson. Dawson is ranked at #14 by the World Boxing Council, and he’s got a long ways to go if his goal is to try and fight Stevenson a second time to try and avenge his loss to him.
“Hopefully within the next two fights I’ll get a world title shot. We want to get another fight after this, hopefully in December, and then sometime early next year I’ll be fighting for another world title.”
That’s an ambitious plan that Dawson has going for him. Karpency isn’t even a contender, so it’s hard to see how a win over him will do much as far as giving Dawson a bump up in the rankings.
If Dawson fights a top contender in December then it’s going to need to be someone ranked really high like Andrzej Fonfara in order to get ranked high enough to get a possible world title shot.
Stevenson might be interested in giving Dawson a rematch in a voluntary title defense, because it would give him a chance of possibly repeating his 1st round knockout win over him from the last time they fought. For Stevenson, it would be better to be facing Dawson then it would to be taking on the likes of Bernard Hopkins or Sergey Kovalev.
Karpency, 28, has won his last two fights against Dhafir Smith and Rayco Saunders. Before that, he’d lost to Nathn Cleverly and Andzej Fonfara. Karpency has decent skills, but not much in the way of power. He’ll have problems with Dawson’s jab and body punching if Dawson chooses to use those weapons tonight.
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