Hopkins vs. Dawson: "Bad" Chad Must Defeat Ancient B-Hop to Remain Credible

For Chad Dawson, this stage of his career has gone on long enough. If "Bad" Chad is going to keep any reasonable claim to his nickname, he must defeat Bernard Hopkins on April 28th.

This is no slight to B-Hop, his amazing career or his longevity—but the man is 47 years old. A 29-year-old fighter, seemingly in his prime, should be able to handily defeat a man pushing 50—even if he is a future Hall of Famer.

Dawson is 30-1 with 17 KO's, and B-Hop's stellar career is validated by his 52 wins to only five losses and 32 KO's. But, in actuality, the records mean nothing in this one.

How can Dawson be considered one of the sport's best, if he can't beat a man old enough to be his father?

He can't.

The previous fight ended after Dawson dumped the elderly Hopkins on his side—apparently injuring him in the process.

Hopkins said he'd fallen and he couldn't get up—translation: he couldn't continue—and the fight was originally given to Dawson, via TKO. The decision was later overturned, and Dawson was disqualified. That decision was ultimately changed as well, and the fight was called a no-contest.

All of that controversy only made Dawson look bad (not in the way his nickname would suggest), and it made this rematch mandatory for the sake of his reputation in the sport.

From the beginning, it was a scenario Dawson couldn't win. If he dominated Hopkins, fans would have said "he better dominate, that's an old man."

If he doesn't dominate—or even loses—fans would have said "he struggled against a 47-year-old Hopkins?"

It's a no-win situation, but one he has to get through. The sooner he can dispatch of B-Hop, the sooner he can move on with his career.

If he doesn't, he can give up ever being thought of as a top-notch light heavyweight.

Hopkins deserves credit for being competitive with the best the light heavyweight division has to offer—but if his contention lasts much longer, we'll have to question the competition.

For that reason, Dawson must remove all questions with a dominating victory.

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