In what would prove to be an ill-fated move, Ward handed him his second loss as it became clear that Dawson could no longer compete at a lower weight. Later in 2012, Dawson moved down to super middleweight, a division in which he had not competed since 2006, in order to challenge Andre Ward for his unified titles. In the same year, The Ring ranked Dawson as the world's tenth best active boxer, pound for pound. He would rebound by winning the WBC title for a second time, as well as the Ring magazine and lineal titles, by defeating Bernard Hopkins in 2012. After vacating that title, he defeated Antonio Tarver in 2008 to win the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and International Boxing Organization (IBO) titles, and defeated him in a rematch in 2009.ĭawson's first career setback was a loss to Jean Pascal in 2010. He held multiple world championships in the light heavyweight division, and was one of that division's most highly regarded boxers between 20.ĭawson rose to prominence on the world stage in 2007, when he defeated Tomasz Adamek to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight title.
Chad Dawson (born July 13, 1982) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2019.