The son of a professional fighter, Chad Dawson was born into boxing. Still, based on genetics alone, few could have anticipated his rise to the pinnacle of the sport.

His father, Rick, had a record of 1-6-1 as a lightweight, according to boxing archives web site boxrec.com.

Rick Dawson moved his family, which included four boys, to New Haven from Hartsville, S.C., in the late 1980s. A few years later, his sons began training as boxers. It didn’t take long for Chad Dawson, who trained under Brian Clark at Ring One in New Haven, to show potential. He was dubbed “Bad” Chad as an 11-year old, and as a student at Hillhouse quickly became one of the top amateur fighters in the country.

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