By Dan Ambrose: Boxing fans have been quick to dismiss two-time former light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson’s chances of beating WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO’s) in their fight next month on October 15th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Fans see Dawson’s recent split with new trainer Emanuel Steward as one of the biggest reasons why they feel he has little chance of beating the 46-year-old Hopkins. To be sure, it doesn’t look good Dawson leaving Steward just on the verge of the biggest fight of Dawson’s career, but it really doesn’t matter much.

Dawson clearly wasn’t jelling with the fighting style that Steward was trying to teach him, and if anything, Dawson looked far worse than he did before Steward began training him. If you don’t believe me, take a look at Dawson’s recent 12 round decision win over Adrian Diaconu last May. Dawson looked as if he won that fight in-spite of the change of style that Steward had made to his game.

Dawson looked stiff, uncomfortable and awkward fighting on the inside mainly jabbing and throwing one punch at a time. That style may work with guys like super heavyweights Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschkos, but it seemed all wrong for Dawson. He beat Diaconu without any problems, but it would have been so much easier had Dawson fought using his old style. So it really doesn’t matter that Dawson won’t have Steward to help him get ready for Hopkins during this training camp. Dawson has his old trainer John Scully helping him in addition to Winky Wright, and they know how to get him ready to beat an aging Hopkins.

Hopkins is going to have a lot of problems with Dawson’s speed and athleticism in this fight. Hopkins is usually been the better athlete in his fights in the past few years, but he won’t be on October 15th. Dawson is the better athlete and the better fighter. He’s going to expose Hopkins in ability to deal with tall boxer/punchers like him and Jermain Taylor, and I see Dawson winning this fight quite easily.