By Keith Idec
 
Chad Dawson didn’t intentionally mislead anyone.

Dawson’s self-assessment during HBO’s brief preview of his fight tonight against Jean Pascal was about as close as this genuinely nice guy comes to talking trash.

“A lot of people ask me,” Dawson states during the trailer, “why is my name ‘Bad’ Chad Dawson? How bad am I? I always say, ‘Really bad. As bad as bad gets.’ ”

Boxing’s best light heavyweight isn’t quite that bad. Not yet, anyway.

Dawson is very good, exceptional enough to appear on any noteworthy pound-for-pound list.

And there’s nothing wrong with very good. Plenty of fighters worse than Chad Dawson have made millions in recent years, thus there’s no reason to begrudge Dawson for regularly receiving seven-figure compensation from HBO.

It’s just that the humble, left-handed craftsman from New Haven, Conn., possesses the skill set to be great. Unfortunately, he has yet to display a matching mindset.

His victories over Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver were impressive, professional performances, yet nothing inspiring.

Dawson (29-0, 17 KOs, 1 NC) clearly out-pointed Tarver (27-6, 19 KOs) in their first fight in October 2008, a bout in which a fast, gifted, young fighter exposed an aging ex-champion over 12 rounds. Their rematch, in which Dawson participated only due to a contractual obligation to Tarver, was slightly closer, but not much different from their initial encounter seven months earlier.

The 28-year-old Dawson’s unanimous decision win against Johnson on Nov. 7 in Hartford, Conn., enabled Dawson to silence Johnson, the Jamaican-born boxer who understandably doubted the validity of Dawson’s win against him in their first 12-rounder in April 2008. Dawson’s wider win did not, however, silence those who wonder why he doesn’t take the risks required to really resonate with boxing fans.

The undefeated Dawson seemingly settles for decision wins against top opponents, when his hand speed and power probably should lead to more troublesome moments for foes, if not more knockouts. He was widely criticized following his defeat of Johnson for taking a safety-first approach against a then-40-year-old opponent who clearly couldn’t keep up with him.

Knocking out Johnson obviously is no easy task, as only Bernard Hopkins has stopped Johnson. And Johnson even finished that middleweight championship match on his feet, before it was stopped in the 11th round.

Had Dawson applied more pressure on Johnson (50-14-2, 34 KOs), he might’ve recorded his first knockout against a world-class opponent. Instead, even after producing a convincing victory in what was expected to be a competitive rematch, Dawson left star-starved fight fans and tough-to-please media members wanting more.

Even Pascal pleaded for Dawson to fight more aggressively when they square off for Pascal’s WBC 175-pound title at Bell Centre in Montreal, where Pascal, a transplanted Haitian, has built a fan base in recent years.

“This is my country, my town and my belt,” Pascal, 27, said during a press conference this week. “I hope Chad Dawson is coming to fight like a champion. But if he thinks he’s going to run like a chicken and leave with my title, he is making a big mistake.”

Naturally, Dawson took exception to Pascal’s chicken comparison. But to his credit, Dawson doesn’t do or say anything negative, so he couldn’t muster much more than a comparatively respectful response.

“I don’t talk much,” Dawson said to Pascal. “If you want to do trash talk, no problem. But I guarantee you will have a very tough night [tonight].”

Pascal didn’t dispute that. He conceded that Dawson is “with no doubt the best fighter I have ever faced.”

Dawson definitely is better than Carl Froch, the former WBC super middleweight champion who out-pointed Pascal to win that title 20 months ago in Nottingham, England, Froch’s hometown.

But Pascal is a clever boxer with a solid chin. Especially with his adopted-hometown fans behind him, Pascal, technically the champion, represents a real challenge for Dawson, who hasn’t fought someone younger than 39 since he stopped Colombian power puncher Epifanio Mendoza (30-9-1, 26 KOs), then 31, in September 2007.

Nevertheless, Dawson didn’t hesitate to note that he has already beaten better fighters than Pascal, despite those well-documented age gaps. Before beating Tarver and Johnson twice apiece, he also dealt Tomasz Adamek his lone loss.

That lopsided points win was Dawson’s crowning achievement thus far, the most vivid evidence that Dawson is capable of amazing things a boxing ring.

He didn’t merely completely out-class Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs), who went on to win a cruiserweight title before becoming a heavyweight contender. He dropped the Polish star with a body blow in the seventh round en route to a blowout win that won Dawson a WBC light heavyweight crown he later lost and partially reclaimed amid typical sanctioning silliness.

The scores in Dawson’s win against Adamek (118-108, 117-109, 116-110) weren’t all that different than those in his wide wins against Tarver. The assertive way he went about overwhelming Adamek was more impressive, however, than anything else Dawson has done since he turned pro nearly nine years ago.

Dawson envisioned that victory over Adamek as a springboard to bigger, better things at light heavyweight, most notably a fight against another 40-plus future Hall-of-Fame fighter. The Hopkins fight never materialized, mostly because Hopkins didn’t think facing Dawson was worth the monetary reward when there was more money and less risk elsewhere.

Hopkins probably will retire before fighting Dawson, but that shouldn’t define Dawson’s prime.

If he tops Pascal tonight, there is another legitimate light heavyweight test to take, now that Tavoris Cloud (21-0, 18 KOs) has proved his readiness for challenging Dawson’s supremacy at 175 pounds by beating Johnson a week ago in St. Louis. There is an even more intriguing challenge awaiting Dawson if he wins tonight, a fight against another champion who now calls Quebec home.

Romania’s Lucian Bute is much more popular than Pascal, too, and Gary Shaw, Dawson’s promoter, has already stated a willingness to battle Bute (26-0, 21 KOs) in the IBF super middleweight champion’s adopted hometown early in 2011. That’s a huge fight for Dawson, whether it’s contested at light heavyweight or at a catch weight.

It’s just a shame he needs Bute to help prove his star power. With all that ability, the potentially dominant Dawson should be a ticket-seller, or at least must-see TV, no matter who he fights.

But barely 5,000 fans attended the Johnson rematch at Hartford’s XL Center, less than an hour away from Dawson’s native New Haven. Dawson blamed that disappointing turnout on a late-blooming promotion, something Shaw disputes.

What’s indisputable is that Dawson should be a bigger attraction than he is, even if he is unwilling to follow Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s blueprint for fame and fortune. The likeable, low-key Dawson is neither an eager self-promoter nor nearly arrogant enough to transform himself into a powerful pay-per-view attraction outside the ring.

This humble family man must become bigger inside the ring, where he has a chance tonight to begin giving star-starved fight fans proof that “Bad” Chad Dawson is finally ready to become as bad as bad gets.

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com.