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Cloutier’s Canada Corner
Stevenson: "Chad, I Will Knock
You Out"
Dawson: "Stevenson, You’re A Bum Who
Never Faced A Fighter Of My Caliber"
By Daniel Cloutier
MONTRÉAL - The boxing writers who were expecting a pretty
calm and polite press conference with the Montrealer Adonis
Stevenson and the American Chad Dawson Wednesday afternoon
at the Radio-Energie station in downtown of Montréal, were
very wrong.
The animosity between these two fighters became extremely
intense after only few seconds of arguments. If their
punches have this intensity June 8th in the ring of the Bell
Centre, the crowd will certainly be attending a memorable
fight.
Dawson (31-2-0) and Stevenson (20-1-0) will face in a WBC
light heavyweight championship of the world televise by HBO.
“Chad, be prepared, because you will live hell June 8th here
in Montréal,” said
Stevenson. “I will knock you out.”
Dawson replied: “What? You are pretending you can knock me
out? You are a bum who never faced a high caliber fighter
like I am. I will teach you respect June 8th.”
Stevenson said: “Dawson, you were unable to take the Andre
Ward's punches in Oakland… and you think you have the chin
to take by bombs? In your dream…”
Dawson replied: “Against Ward, I was too weak, because I
lost too many pounds before the bout. Believe me, Stevenson,
you will meet the real Chad Dawson June 8th…”
The former champion of the world, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad,
Dawson's trainer, did not appreciate Stevenson's comments.
“Hey! Stevenson, you are trying to become famous in fighting
Chad, but Chad,
he, is already famous. He is one of the great champions of
his generation. Stevenson, you have the reputation to be a
very hard puncher, but you will never be able to scare Chad.
My fighter is himself a dangerous puncher, but more than
that, he is a brilliant boxer, a marvelous technician.
Adonis, you never fought a world champion, but you will face
a real one June 8th. We will see how you gonna react in the
the adversity.
At his last bout, Dawson lost by TKO in the 10th round
against the Californian Andre Ward September 8th in Oakland
(Dawson suffered of three knockdowns), but he kept his WBC
light heavyweight belt, because in Oakland, only the Ward's
crowns (WBC and WBA super middleweight) were on the line
that night.
Since two months, Dawson was preparing himself for his
rematch with the Montrealer Jean Pascal, normally scheduled
for May 25th at Bell Centre, but finally, Pascal (27-2-1)
will face Lucian Bute (31-1-0) that night… and Dawson will
meet Stevenson two weeks after, during the activities of the
Canadian
Formula One Grand Prix.
“We will live an incredible week-end of sport,” said
Francois Dumontier, the promoter of the Canadian Formula One
Grand Prix. “The thousands of race cars fans coming from
Europe and USA will have the chance to see in action the
best drivers in the world, and two of the best fighters in
the world.”
Yvon Michel, the promoter of the GYM Group, was eased when
Dawson confirmed he was accepting to come in Montréal to
face Stevenson. “June 8th, Adonis was supposed to fight for
an eventual vacant IBF super middleweight world
championship, but the plan failed, said Yvon Michel. Why?
The 13 contenders contacted by the IBF have all refused to
face Stevenson. >From that point, I suggested to Gary Shaw
(the Dawson's promoter) a fight Dawson-Stevenson. After long
negotiations, we finally got a deal. We all know Adonis is
facing a huge challenge, but he is ready for that. During
the last three years, we opposed him to the best super
middleweight available in the world, and he won all these
fights by KO or TKO. According the Ring Magazine, Adonis is
the 6th most powerful puncher “pound for pound” on the
planet. Before his death, Emmanuel Steward told me that
Adonis will certainly become world champion, and he will
become of the most popular fighter in the world. It will be
step in that direction if he dethroned Dawson.”
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