Chad Dawson is a brilliant talent who often lacks the fire, work ethic and dedication to be great. When Dawson, a former light heavyweight champion, puts his mind to it, there are few better in the sport.
Dawson, though, has rarely operated on all cylinders and has never been as committed to the sport, to the fighter?s lifestyle and to getting better, as his opponent on Oct. 15, World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins.
Hopkins, who on May 21 in Montreal won by unanimous decision over Jean Pascal to become, at 46, the oldest man ever to win a boxing world title, is renowned for his commitment to fitness and treating his body properly.
He raised his shirt to show a stomach with rippling abdominal muscles, more than two months before he?s set to fight Dawson.
?I?ve been walking around like this for damn near two months,? Hopkins said, patting his belly. ?I had to eat to get to [180 pounds]. I was [178, 179 pounds]. Now, I?m going to camp for six weeks.?
Hopkins said he?s been careful about how he?s trained in the searing Philadelphia heat. The weather prompted a warning to avoid outdoors activity. Hopkins, though, breezed through a workout at the Joe Hand Boxing Gym in South Philadelphia as if he were a 25-year-old. He appeared ready to go 12 hard rounds that day.
?It?s good living and eating the right food, the whole foods and stuff like that,? Hopkins said. ?I eat right in between fights, not just when I?m in camp. It?s my lifestyle. I don?t just say, ?OK, I?m going to eat right when I?m training and in camp.? I eat every day the same way I do when I?m in training. I live it as my lifestyle: no smoking, no drinking, eating right, always taking care of my body.?
Dawson is a major talent who could learn a thing or two about preparation from a guy like Hopkins. Even Hopkins admitted that if Dawson had his attitude, he?d be a scary opponent. He said the laid-back Dawson ?fights the way his personality is. It doesn?t make him a bad guy. It?s just who he is. I just think he might be in the wrong business. I look at Chad Dawson as a guy who ought to be in the golf business.?
But if it were possible to give Hopkins? attitude and work ethic to Dawson, he?d probably be one of the greatest fighters ever. And Hopkins said things would be different for him, too.
?I wouldn?t fight him,? Hopkins said, laughing. ?Are you crazy? This [expletive], with his talent and my attitude? Would you be trying to get me killed? I wouldn?t fight him.?
