Hopkins vs. Dawson: Bad Chad Proves Youth Trumps Experience

In what was a uniquely boring fight between two boxers in very different positions, "Bad Chad" Dawson defeated the elder Bernard Hopkins Saturday night and proved that youth is the premier advantage in fighting.

Dawson seemed to have an advantage from the get-go in this one as Hopkins was on his heels for much of the fight. 

It was never apparent that Hopkins was using experience to his advantage in the fight. He did display some strength and seemed to be in shape, but that was all he used to sway the fight in his favor.

The Executioner will go down as one of the best middleweights in history. He defended a title 20 times—a world record. He became the oldest man to ever win a major world title at 46. But it cannot be ignored that the boxer has been wearing down throughout the latest stages of his career. 

In unreal fashion, Hopkins has now gone 13 fights without knocking out a fighter. He's proven to not be able to use his experience as a major factor, instead becoming incredibly less dominant with age. 

It's unclear at this point whether or not Hopkins will retire, but it's in his best interest to. He's been fighting off retirement for some time, and he obviously made some advances in his game since, but he's only becoming less and less of a force in the boxing world.

The fight Saturday seemed to be more of scrapping, mauling and clinching than landed punches and strategic boxing. Much of that was initiated by Hopkins, who couldn't get anything going.

It's become clear that Hopkins' greatness is becoming more and more distant to the boxing world, and at 47 years old, Hopkins isn't going to make much more noise in his current profession. 

There's a whole pool of fighters just like Dawson who are bigger, faster and quicker than B-Hop. His woes won't be easily cured by a win against another boxer. 

It's become imminent that youth is becoming the driving force in boxing.