Former two-time world champion “Bad” Chad Dawson of New Haven, CT will take on durable pressure fighting Russian opponent Denis Grachev in an eight-round main event promoted by CES Boxing at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT on Friday Oct. 11, live streamed on UFC Fight Pass.
Chad Dawson (35-9, 19 KOs) was once highly regarded as one of the top ten pound for pound best boxers in the world when he reigned atop the light heavyweight division.
Dawson held the IBF and WBC titles and fought some of the best fighters in the division. He beat legendary future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins and then decided to cut weight to fight super middleweight champion Andre Ward at 168-pounds which proved to be a bad decision. Dawson looked drained and weak, Ward eventually stopped him in the fight.
It has been difficult for the 37-year-old Dawson since he lost to Ward. He went on to fight Adonis Stevenson only to get knocked out and it looked like his career was over.
In 2017 he was stopped by Andrzej Fonfara and people felt that he should hang the gloves up for good. Dawson thinks otherwise and wants to make another run at the light heavyweight division and is taking his career serious taking on 8-round bouts before moving up to 10 and 12 rounders again.
Denis Grachev (19-8-1, 10 KOs) is a former kickboxing world champion who only took up boxing later in his career. The San Diego based Russian fighter is best knowing or giving undefeated fighters Ismayl Sillah and Zsolt Erdei their first professional losses in huge upsets.
Grachev has never fought for a world boxing championship and he still believes at 37 if he beats former world champion Chad Dawson it will move him forward in the right direction.
The co-main event will feature undefeated Connecticut heavyweight Cassius Chaney (16-0, 10 KOs) taking on former cruiserweight contender from Colombia Santander Silgado (28-7, 22 KOs) in an eight-round bout.
Fight Card
Light Heavyweight – Chad Dawson vs. Denis Grachev
Heavyweight – Cassius Chaney vs. Santander Silgado
Junior Middleweight – Jimmy Williams vs. Jose Medina
Lightweight – Sharad Collier vs. Glenn Mitchell
Super Featherweight – Jacob Marrero vs. Mike Oliver
Featherweight – Nathan Martinez vs. Steve Garagarza
Light Heavyweight – Jahvel Joseph vs. Leandro Silva
Junior Middleweight – Jalen Renaud vs. Maceo Crowder
Friday, October 11, 2019 at 7:00 PM ET/PT Live Stream on UFC Fight Pass (ufc.tv/fightpass).
