Everything went according to plan for Chad Dawson’s return. Sort of.
Dawson (35-5), returning in a light heavyweight bout against Quinton Rankin after over two years out of the ring, survived a scare in the fifth round in which he was knocked down and then looked to be in serious trouble, then settled down to win a unanimous decision in the eight-round fight.
“Everything’s a work in progress,” Dawson, 36, said. “I’m older. I’m getting better as time goes. I had a two-year layoff. I just got back in the gym maybe six months ago. Right now, I want to go back to the drawing board and correct the mistakes we made this fight.”
Dawson, the former light heavyweight world champion, clearly won the opening rounds. Rankin (15-6-2) quickly resorted to either holding, shoving a forearm into Dawson’s face or covering up and absorbing punches. When he did fight back, he almost exclusively threw huge haymakers, one of which caught Dawson in the third round but didn’t seem to do much damage.
Dawson continued to unload on Rankin against the ropes and started to cruise. But in the fifth round, Rankin busted open the fight when he landed a huge uppercut that dropped Dawson to a knee in the center of the ring and stunned the sellout crowd at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Rankin appeared to land a punch after Dawson was down, and the referee gave Dawson time to recover while he sorted it out.
With Dawson clearly still hurt, Rankin went right after him but was deducted a point for punching the back of Dawson’s head. Dawson survived the round but with massive swelling on his left eye.
Rankin kept looking for huge shots but couldn’t land any and was docked another point in the seventh for shoving a forearm into Dawson’s head.
Dawson won with scores of 80-68, 78-72 and 78-72. He said he’d give himself a C-plus for his performance, and wants to keep getting stronger as he tries to angle for another world title shot.
“I thought I did great, for a 36-year-old man,” he said.
Williams stays undefeated
In the co-feature, New Haven featherweight Tramaine Williams stayed undefeated with a unanimous decision win over Neil John Tabanao in a 10-round fight. Scores were 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92.
The first few rounds featured almost no action as both fighters tried to feel each other out. As the fight went on, Williams (18-0) started to turn up his offensive output and Tabanao (17-6) struggled to find his way through Williams’ defense. The Mandaue City, Philippines, native did land some clean shots in the sixth, but he couldn’t string them together.
Williams tired in the later rounds, and Tabanao landed a few more shots. But the New Haven native controlled most of the rounds and no doubt benefited from a crowd that erupted any time he so much as landed a jab.
In the 10th and final round, Williams started to unload on Tabanao and had his best round of the fight. He staggered Tabanao against the ropes and was more aggressive, and the crowd — begging for more action all fight — roared to life.
Also on the card:
Marisa Belenchia (1-0, 0 KOs) of New Haven won a four-rounder by unanimous decision over Delaney Owen (0-3, 0 KOs), of Clearwater, Fla. Scores were 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37.
Wilson Mascarenhas (2-1, 0 KOs) of New Bedford, Mass., beat Anthony Ramirez (0-1, 0 KOs) of Philadelphia in a four-rounder, 40-36, 40-36 and 40-36.
Oscar Bonilla (6-3-2, 1 KO) of Bridgeport, in a six-round bout, beat Julio Perez (4-4, 0 KOs) of Worcester, 59-55, 59-55 and 59-55.
Nathan Martinez (4-0, 1 KO) of New Britain decisioned Jose Homar Rios (2-7-1, 1 KO) of Hawley, Minn., in four rounds, 40-36, 40-36 and 40-36.
Jose Rivera (8-4, 5 KOs) of Manchester took a six-round decision over Luca Podda (7-4, 3 KOs) of Miami, Fla., 59-54, 59-54 and 59-54.
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