Chad Dawson has to prove he’s not boring

Chad Dawson has a credibility problem. Worse, he has an excitability problem.

The 29-year-old Connecticut boxer and former world light-heavyweight champion has the opportunity Saturday to address both when he fights 46-year-old World Boxing Council champion Bernard Hopkins in an HBO pay-per-view bout at Staples Center.

“I know I’ve got something to prove to the boxing world,” Dawson said this week.

In August 2010, the southpaw found Canada’s Jean Pascal a complicated foe, as Dawson fell behind on the scorecards and suffered his only loss when a slumping Pascal was accidentally cut and the fight was stopped in the 11th round.

The effort raised questions about how much Dawson wants to be great. He has answered critics by pointing out that a rotation of trainers has caused a disjointed style.

In his last fight in May, Dawson was more active than Adrian Diaconu, but the victory by decision was a yawner that was the fourth of five decisions for him in major television fights.

It further deepened Dawson’s reputation as boring.

Now, as Dawson (30-1, 17 knockouts) prepares to step into the ring against an old, defense-first Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs), he confronts the important matters in telling ways.

Lose to a 46-year-old, and risk being banished from boxing’s big stage.

Dawson vows he understands what’s at stake.

“I was getting by other fights with mediocre training and sparring. … I was a little bored,” Dawson said. “My biggest regret is that when I lost, a lot of fans stopped respecting me.

“The only good that came from it was that I finally got the fight I always wanted. I promise you’ll see a whole new me, and that I’ll make Bernard Hopkins look 46, and make him retire.

“I’ll throw combinations, you’ll see my hand speed, my height advantage. … I have every advantage on this guy, and he’s never fought a guy who’ll throw the combinations at him that I will.”

Hopkins has questioned Dawson’s heart, criticized his excuses for past disappointments and told reporters at Wednesday’s news conference, “I want Chad Dawson to not be the Chad Dawson you all expect he’ll be.”

Glaring at Dawson, Hopkins said, “Come at me. I’m an old man. I drink my Geritol. I go to bed early, at 9. I’m challenging you to try and knock me out.”

That call for action is also coming from television executives. Dawson’s promoter, Gary Shaw, has told his fighter as much.

“You want fans to feel the passion a fighter brings into the ring and have that extend through the television into every living room in America,” said HBO pay-per-view executive Mark Taffet. “That’s the connection that builds an audience, a connection that lasts.

“That can come in a one-punch knockout or a beautiful 12-round technical performance. But the fans need to feel that passion. Chad Dawson now has the chance to put a stamp in history by giving a career-defining performance against Bernard Hopkins, a performance we hope extends into those living rooms.”

Alarms were sounded about Dawson’s will to accomplish that when he parted ways before training camp with veteran trainer Emanuel Steward in Detroit.

Dawson said he wasn’t comfortable training in Detroit after several of his belongings were stolen while training for the Diaconu bout. Dawson instead reunited with John Scully, who trained him in 2004-05, and took him to the secluded Poconos in New York.

“Chad’s had potential for years, he shows glimpses of something, then acts like, ‘OK, there it is, you know I can do it, that’s enough,’ ” Scully said. “He has to sustain it. Most exciting doesn’t mean you’re the best fighter, and skill doesn’t always equate to excitement.

“But he can be himself and be more exciting. Let those seven- to eight-punch combinations go.”

Despite his longevity, Hopkins has shown little punching power for years. His last 11 fights have gone the distance, and Hopkins’ last knockout was against Oscar De La Hoya in 2004.

Scully makes plain the fight strategy is to exploit the age disparity.

“Bernard’s chin was not what it once was,” Scully said. “This whole press conference was a joke; Bernard saying his reflexes aren’t slowing. Bernard only threw 19 punches in one round against Jermain Taylor. Chad can throw 19 punches in one flurry. We’re going to win the fight. Chad’s going to let his hands go, and Bernard can’t keep up.”

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