Prizefighter Dolan needs to copy cruiser Byrd by James Slater Apr 13th 2008

Like seemingly everyone else who saw it, I really enjoyed Friday night's "Prize Fighter" heavyweight tournament. And, also like most people beforehand, I expected the talented David Dolan to win. Of course, he didn't. Dolan's skills saw to it that he reached the final, but he was then outgunned and fell to the sheer aggression and desire of 10/3 outsider Martin Rogan. Dolan's failure to win the tournament, and his very first loss as a pro, got me thinking. Should David really be a cruiserweight? I'm sure I'm not the first person to entertain this notion, perhaps even David himself contemplated boxing at 200 pounds at one point. Yes, heavyweight is where the really big money is, but is Dolan ever going to get as far as the big purses when battling it out amongst the really colossal men? After losing to the tough Rogan - himself no huge heavyweight, even though he did outweigh Dolan by almost a full stone - I think the writing is on the wall. David Dolan is simply too small at 216 pounds to compete with today's juggernauts. Let's face it, Dolan could lose the necessary poundage so as to make cruiserweight. Probably fairly easily. He has fought as low as 208 pounds as a pro (admittedly this was in his pro debut back in May of 2006) and could, therefore more than likely get down to 14 stone even without having to starve himself. At barely 6 feet, David is never going to develop into anything approaching a monster at heavyweight. He is still young enough at age 28 to be able to make the transition to cruiser, and there would be no shortage of attractive fights for him there should he do so. If the 6'3" David Haye could regularly boil down from over to 217 pounds to make cruiserweight, surely Dolan could do likewise from a slightly lower weight. Maybe Dolan could even become Britain's new star of the 14 stone division. With Haye's departure, the division would very possibly suit Dolan down to the ground. If he decides against a move down I can see bad things happening to the likeable Dolan down the road. Imagine if he were hit, for example, by the left hook that the huge, yet mediocre Darren Morgan hit him with on Friday night - but with it coming from the fist of a Wladimir Klitschko? Could Dolan, who would be tasting real, world class heavyweight power, be able to carry such a blow? I don't think the lure of monetary reward, no matter how great, should inspire David to find out. I think Dolan should follow the lead of another top name who has recently decided to drop some weight so as to make his fights more fair. Chris Byrd, who was defensively proficient enough to actually win a number of big fights up at heavyweight, along with a world title, is soon about to reinvent himself down at light heavyweight. Byrd got by against some heavies due to his superb defensive moves. David Dolan, though he is skilful, does not have those defensive moves. Most fighters like a change of direction after a defeat, especially their first. A new weight class - one in which he would be out muscled by no-one - could be just the change of direction David Dolan needs.

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Wake up call Apr 14th 2008, 05:34:56 by firetrap Dolan has no business at Heavyweight. A Klitschko jab would floor him let alone a left hook !