By Michael Marley
He hasn't even had a whole week yet to lick his wounds from a woeful upset loss at the hands of 4-1 betting Jean Pascal in Montreal last Saturday night.
Now Chad Dawson, the troubled former world light heavyweight champion, leaps from the frying pan into the proverbial fire as he will be in Las Vegas next week to sit down for a deposition in a federal court lawsuit filed against he and his now estranged manager, Mike Criscio, by rap music guru (Rap A Lot may turn into the Sue A Lot label) and boxing adviser James Prince.
On Jan. 23, 2007, Prince handed the New Haven, Ct., fighter $20,000 in exchange for a five year, 10 percent interest in his boxing income.
Prince's claim is that Dawson forked over his percentage for bouts against Tomasz Adamek, Jesus uiz and Glen Johnson but then refused to pay out on an Oct. 11, 2008, bout against Antonio Tarver. Prince said that Dawson did not pay him after a second bout against Tarver, either, and that Dawson earned more than $1 million from both bouts.
Since Dawson already had a promoter (Gary Shaw) and Criscio working on his behalf, the question is what did Prince do to earn his percentage. It is believed he has received around $300,000, although that may not include about $170,000 which a court ordered to be put in escrow.
In one court filing, Prince said he paid for Dawson to fly to Prince's hometown of Houston where the adviser had arranged a publicity photo shoot with acclaimed and controversial rap star Lil Wayne and introduced the boxer to accountants and money managers.
Sources in Connecticut say that Dawson's wife, Crystal, has recently taken to calling herself her husband's manager.
And no, you wise guys, those weren't mug shots taken with Lil Wayne.
Criscio said that he has not spoken with the fighter since May and that Dawson's training regimen for the Pascal bout was a joke.
Chadwick Dawson? Sounds like a perfect name for a British golfer does it not?
These days, Dawson is trying to whack the weeds and get out of the rough.
Michael Marley is the national boxing examiner for examiner.com. To read more stories by Michael Marley, Click Here .
