Thomas MacMillan Photo
It’s time, in the view of New Haven’s light heavyweight world champion, to show that boxers have heart.
The champ, Chad Dawson, has sent out a call to the world of professional boxing, seeking donations for humanitarian aid to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
Dawson started things off with a donation of $5,000, then called upon “every champion of all weight classes, contenders, and managers who make over six figures” to match his money.
He dubbed his campaign the “Champions Challenge.”
He’s aiming not just to help earthquake victims in Haiti, but also to change the culture of his pugilistic profession.
Boxers have been seen as simply tough guys for too long, Dawson said in an interview. He cradled his 3‑year-old son Sir Chancellor in his tattooed hands as he spoke. Little Chance had a stomach ache.
“Many of us in the boxing world have the luxury of buying sparkling jewelry, big homes, and fancy cars,” Dawson wrote in a press release announcing his campaign. “I’m challenging all to join me who have a big heart to help with the relief efforts of the Haitian people.”
On Saturday, Dawson visited the Muhammad Islamic Center just over the New Haven town line in Hamden to talk about his new initiative. He’s not a member of the mosque. But after an event there last month, he said he feels comfortable talking at the center.
Dawson said his call for donations is the first effort of its kind in the world of boxing. Other professional sports have charitable organizations, like the NBA’s NBA Cares. Professional boxing has never organized itself around philanthropic endeavors, Dawson said.
“Boxers never do anything to put themselves out there,” Dawson said. “We need to start stepping up and making it known that we care.”
Dawson acknowledged that in trying to rally boxers around a common cause he is up against a well-established culture of individualism. “A boxer fights, gets paid, and goes home,” he said. “Fighters really don’t talk to each other.”
Dawson said he hopes his Haiti relief effort will be the first of many the boxing industry takes up. “Boxers do need things like this,” he said.
But it’s not just boxers. Dawson said he’s calling on managers too. “Managers make a lot of money,” he said. “They definitely can afford it.”
Dawson has a small foundation of his own, Chad Cares. The group organizes local toy drives and gives away turkeys during the holidays.
More than just helping people in need, humanitarian efforts by boxers could help increase the sport’s fanbase, Dawson said. Boxing fans have been turning away from the sport in recent years, as Mixed Martial Arts has gained popularity.
Asked his opinion about MMA, Dawson was circumspect. “It’s entertaining,” he said. “But it’s not my forte.”
As the first fighter to call upon the boxing world to help in a charitable cause, Dawson said he’s prepared to be the public face of a new movement. “I do think I have a heart,” he said. “I know right from wrong.”
But it will take more than moral sense. Dawson has to become comfortable being in the spotlight. “That I’m getting used to,” he said.
Being the center of attention doesn’t come naturally for the softspoken champ. He said he’s always been quiet, which is not often the temperament boxing promoters look for. Dawson said representatives at HBO have been telling him he’s got to start speaking. People want him to talk trash, wear flashy jewelry, and throw money around, he said. The network wants him to be a flamboyant personality like Floyd “Money” Mayweather, who is known for stunts like throwing cash in the air.
But that’s not Dawson’s style. “I tell them this is who I am,” he said quietly.
Dawson said his desire to help Haiti comes from an impulse to give back some of the good fortune he’s received. “Boxing’s done good things for me,” he said. “I’ve been poor. I can relate to kids growing up in the city. I’ve been there.”
Dawson, who’s 27, grew up in New Haven, training first with Brian Clark at Ring One boxing gym in the Hill. He went to Hillhouse High and then the Hyde school before dropping out of school. “I was a knucklehead,” he said. “I was a quiet knucklehead.”
Now he’s a two-time world champion living with his wife, Crystal, and three kids in Hamden. “When I’m not training, I’m doing this,” he said, pointing to Chance lying in his arms.
Sir Chancellor is the second of Dawson’s three boys. He doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to naming his kids. The oldest is 6‑year-old Prince Chadwick. The youngest is 10-month-old Royal Champion.