By Dan Ambrose: Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KO’s) doesn’t see anything in WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward’s game that worries him as the two fighters slowly approach their September 8th fight together at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Dawson says he only see a fighter that mainly fights on the inside and he doesn’t plan on playing into that game.

In an interview with ESPN on Friday, Dawson said “I know Andre Ward likes to be on the inside. He likes to rough guys up on the inside. People say he’s an all around fighter. I don’t see that. I see him on the inside wanting to trade punches…I plan to use my superior boxing skills, outbox him and win the fight that way. The guys he’s been fighting haven’t been working behind the jab; they haven’t used boxing skills to try and beat him. They’re fighting his game plan.”

To be fair, Ward forces his opponents to fight his game plan by charging them and getting in close and using his strength to stay there. It’s not because his opponents want to fight on the inside, but rather they’re forced to. It’ll take a special performance from Dawson to prevent Ward from doing that to nim on September 8th, because Ward has a very quick move when he collapses inward to take the fight to the inside. Dawson has the benefit of never having let a previous opponent fight him in close for any length of time. Dawson, 6’2″, is tall and has very long arms that he uses to push his shorter opponents away when they try and force an inside war against him.

Ward may have problems if Dawson is able to push him off and reestablish outside control of the fight. Ward isn’t as good of a boxer as Dawson, and he’s not nearly as effective as Dawson is on the outside. Ward has a good jab but he’s not someone that can dominate a fighter like Dawson if the fight goes to the outside. The reason for that is Dawson’s 5 1/2 reach advantage over Ward. That’s going to allow him to jab away at Ward without getting hit all that often. It’s crucial for Ward to take the fight to the inside, because if he can’t do that on a consistent basis then he’s going to lose the fight.