(Chad Dawson connects on George Blades; via)
Chad Dawson got back to his winning ways quickly on Sho Extreme Saturday, stopping a reluctant George Blades in one round. You wouldn’t say Dawson was “back” in any other way, though, as his back fat was winning more attention.
I kid — Dawson wasn’t fat by normal human standards but he was 182 pounds on Friday and hit the ring at 202 pounds, visibly chunkier than he has been his whole career, usually a chiseled athlete. Because of that, and because Blades didn’t seem to be all that into trying to win the fight, we learned next to nothing about whether Dawson could resume anything like contender status at light heavyweight. All it took was a couple mean body shots and a combination to the head to put Blades down for good.
I say “next to nothing” because his physique didn’t exactly show he had the level of desire yet he would need to get back to that level, and since he was coming off two straight knockout losses and last won more than two years ago, we can go ahead and forget his days as one of the pound-for-pound best.
Also on Sho Extreme, heavyweight 2012 Olympian Dominic Breazeale had his own less-than-cut physique, but it was more than enough to reckon with Devin Vargas, a 2004 Olympian turned journeyman. Vargas was too short for his 6’7″ opponent and lunged, although he didn’t have too terribly much trouble connecting on Breazeale anyhow. It’s just that Breazeale connected harder and more often. In the 2nd, Breazeale dropped Vargas with a shot that he complained was to the back of his head, then spent the rest of the round complaining about phantom rabbit punches, although at least it fired him up to go for broke. In the 3rd, Breazeale landed a shot to the side of Vargas’ head and Vargas slumped over the ropes and placed a glove on the back of his noggin. Because he was defenseless, the ref had no choices but to stop it. Despite the win, Breazeale has a long way to go toward proving he is anything more than a so-so prospect.
