Chad Dawson, the undefeated light heavyweight champion, will pursue a bout with the winner of next month's Jean Pascal-Adrian Diaconu matchup, his promoter, Gary Shaw, told FanHouse on Sunday."I really believe that in time, all roads will lead to Chad Dawson -- just like it did for Pernell Whitaker, and just like it did for Bernard Hopkins," said Shaw, making sure not to rule out possible bouts against Hopkins or Roy Jones, who will likely face each other early in 2010.
"They won't be able to avoid him, because people will eventually say, 'You can't say that you're the best, and you can't say that you're the champion until you've fought Chad Dawson and beat him,' " said Shaw. "I believe that Chad is, right now, officially the gatekeeper at 175 pounds."
The 27-year-old Pascal (24-1, 16 KOs) is the WBC's champion. Pascal and the 31-year-old Diaconu (26-1, 15 KOs) will meet in a Dec. 11 rematch of Pascal's unanimous decision victory in June. It's also a clash between fighters who both reside in Quebec, Canada.
"After Pascal-Diaconu, I'll start negotiations with the winner of that fight, because, right now, Pascal is the champion, and Dawson is the [WBC's] interim champion," said Shaw. "The WBC said that those two have to fight next, and it will be a great fight."
Dawson is coming off of Saturday night's IBO light heavyweight title defense against Glen Johnson, whom he dominated on the way to a 12-round, unanimous decision.
It was the second time that the 27-year-old Dawson (29-0, 17 knockouts) had won on all three cards against the 40-year-old Johnson, the 2004 Fighter Of The Year.
Against Dawson, Johnson looked like a man who should ponder retirement from the game. "I think that Chad put on a masterful performance. I'm not sure that the fans appreciate what a good boxer he is, and what a great athlete he is. He did things in the ring that I've never seen a 175-pound fighter do before," said Shaw.
"Defensively, he moved like Pernell Whitaker. There were two, or three, or four times, where he would roll and duck, and he was right in front of Glen. Glen actually couldn't even punch him," said Shaw.
"Glen just looked at him. Chad was making the angles and rolling right in front of him. I had the fight at 118-110 in my mind. He's a smart fighter, and I believe that there's no one around who can beat him."
