By Jake Donovan

Not even Glen Johnson vowing to knock him out was enough to get undefeated light heavyweight "Awesome" Chad Dawson to deviate from his normal script.

"I don't get caught up in all that," insisted Dawson when asked for a response to Johnson's bold prediction regarding their upcoming April 12 light heavyweight showdown on Showtime.

"At the end of the day, the best man is going to win the fight. That best man will be me, but I don't need to talk trash to get that point out. I'm legitimate about my approach to the game."

The approach is the normal way of life for the confident, yet humble and soft-spoken Dawson, in and out of the ring. In the ring, the 25-year old southpaw has been tabbed my many as the future of the division. He earns the declaration almost by default, as he's anywhere from 10-17 years younger than the rest of the top players in the division. But as the song goes, age ain't nothin' but a number.

At the end of the day, it's his skill level, particularly his fast hands, which have many believing it will be youngest in charge at light heavyweight. That speed level, insists his more outspoken, yet extremely loyal, manager Mike Criscio, will be even more evident each time the old timers of the division step up to face his charge.

"It makes me laugh that all of these old men insist they can still do this and that, that they have blinding speed," Criscio wonders. "They look awfully slow if you ask me, slow and old. They don't believe it, because they're all fighting each other instead of facing the young guns.

"Don't get me wrong, credit to Johnson for being the one guy to finally come around and agree to fight Chad. But now, Johnson and the rest of the old timers will begin to witness real speed, and just how slow and old they truly are."

Dawson agrees… on the part about Johnson deserving credit for agreeing to the fight.

"Glen Johnson is a good fighter, one of the best light heavyweights. I have to be totally honest, it wasn't the first one we wanted, but he's the biggest one to step up to the plate, so I commend him for that. It's better than what I've been dealt the past couple of fights, so I'm happy I'm finally getting a chance to land that fights that prove what I already believe, that I'm the best light heavyweight in the world."

Dawson 's past two fights were of the tune-up variety, scoring impressive stoppage wins over not-so-impressive opponents Epifanio Mendoza and Jesus Ruiz. Mendoza was a late replacement for a September 29 Showtime bout originally slated to go to Adrian Diaconu, who was forced to pull out after suffering an injury in training camp. Ruiz was just the one guy who stepped forward, or perhaps stood still while everyone else stepped back, while promoter Gary Shaw was asking around for opponents for a June fight, also on Showtime.

The bouts were a bit of a letdown – to the sport and especially to Dawson, who thrives on facing the best. Such was evident in his rise toward the top of the division, not only improving with each fight, but doing so while also progressively improving the level of competition.

Showtime audiences caught their first glimpse of Awesome Dawson in November 2005 on ShoBox, when he was still Bad Chad and way too good for Ian Gardner, who was taken out in 11 one-sided rounds. Seven months later, Dawson returned to the ShoBox circuit for an all-Connecticut showdown with Eric Harding – in California. Hey, that's boxing, and so was Dawson's clinical effort that night, rising from a 1 st round flash knockdown to otherwise dominate Harding over the course of their 12-round bout.

The sports politics forced Dawson to sit out longer than he wanted, but the payoff was well worth it. He landed his first Showtime Championship Boxing appearance in February 2007, on the eve of the Super Bowl against fellow unbeaten light heavyweight Tomasz Adamek.

Dawson was super that night, save for a brief scare in the 10th round when Adamek looked to erase a nine-round deficit with a single shot that sent the New Haven-based slickster to the canvas. Dawson arose, but spent the rest of the round recovering before regaining control in the championship rounds to preserve and add to his early lead en route to a wide unanimous decision and a portion of the light heavyweight crown.

The win was enough to put the rest of the division on notice; Dawson was for real, and only climbing up. The rest of the division must've taken notice, as nobody's stepped up since. At least until Johnson signed on the dotted line.

"I feel I pretty much proved I'm the best through in the division, based on what I've accomplished as well as the fact that the rest of the top guys don't want to fight me ever since arriving. But of course, it takes fights against more of the top light heavyweights to prove it, so again, I commend Johnson for stepping up and allowing me to make my case."

And if that doesn't prove it?

"Bernard is the one I want, without a doubt. The critics say he's still the light heavyweight champion, which is crazy to me. He don't have no belt and ain't fighting any of the other light heavyweights. But they say he's the one at the top, so that's the fight."

Manager gladly co-signs on fighter's statement.

"Bernard's running around, talking about, 'I'm the best in boxing.' Yeah? Well prove it by fighting Chad. Only that can't happen, since Bernard seems to get amnesia every time you mention my kid's name.

"But why are we talking about him, when we have a real light heavyweight fight on April 12. It's a fight that's good for boxing, because we need the best light heavyweights fighting each other. All this crap with guys making up weights just to get quick paydays without taking risks. Chad takes risks because he wants to prove he's the best. That's the biggest difference between him and everyone else in the division, if you ask me."

That, and about 15 years in age. More reason for Dawson to move up while everyone moves out. Not that he's in the retiring business.

"I'm not here to send anyone into retirement or anything. If they want to keep doing their thing after fighting me, that's fine. But just fight me. All them other guys, they had their day at the top. It's my time to get paid."

Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, and presently serves on the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His column runs every Tuesday on BoxingScene.com. Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com