By Jake Donovan

It took a lot longer than expected, but it appears as if the faces at the top of the light heavyweight division are finally getting younger.

A lot of factors needed to come into play in order to make that long desired wish a reality. One was the need for new blood in the division – not just for the older guys to make way for Generation Next, but new faces to emerge as legitimate threats.

For a while, it was Chad Dawson against the division’s graybeards, having spent the past two years dealing with Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson. His roadblock came in the form of Bernard Hopkins – whom some publications kept at the top of the ratings for far too long – refusing to even acknowledge Dawson’s presence, claiming the young gun didn’t bring enough to the table to interest him in a much-demanded showdown.

Tavoris Cloud has finally emerged as a top threat, even if last weekend’s win over Johnson wasn’t quite as dominant as most would hope to have been the case, at least for those in search of new faces at the top.

But despite the old saying, it takes more than two to tango if a division is to remain healthy with noteworthy matches, especially if those two aren’t guaranteed to face each other anytime soon.

Where the division received a boost in a big way is with the emergence of a promising super middleweight who decided that an extra seven pounds to his frame would do his career a world of good.

With that decision, Jean Pascal went from diamond in the rough to budding superstar virtually overnight.

The Haitian-born, Canadian-raised has the opportunity of a lifetime to improve his Q-rating in a big way, when he faces Chad Dawson this weekend at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada (Saturday, HBO, 10:30PM ET).

It is arguably the most anticipated light heavyweight match in years for a number of reasons. It features the top two rated light heavyweights in the world, and is a rare matchup in which both sides of a major fight at 175 have yet to see their 30th birthday.

For those who believe that the only boxing that exists is limited to what’s offered within their cable or satellite package, another bit of good news is that a fresh face is added to the rotation. Fans have become more than familiar with Dawson, who has plied his trade for the past several years on Showtime and now HBO.

This weekend, however, marks the HBO debut for Pascal (25-1, 16KO), with his stateside exposure to date having been limited to sporadic appearances on regional networks.

He has no intention of making it a one-and-done showcase.

“I appreciate the opportunity I have to feature my skills on HBO,” Pascal states as he prepares for his first fight in nearly eight months when he faces Dawson this weekend. “They are an amazing company and already, my experiences with their staff indicate an incredibly high standard of professionalism and knowledge.

“Hopefully this will be the first of many such opportunities.”

He couldn’t have asked for a tougher assignment for his network debut, as Dawson’s star has been on the rise for as long as he’s proven himself to be a threat at the top level.

But while this fight may very well be the most important of his career, it’s certainly not his first time on the big stage.

Haitian-born but raised in Canada (specifically in Laval, Quebec) since the age of four, Pascal took up the sport as he entered his teens and established himself as the premiere amateur fighter of his weight class for years to follow. His list of accomplishments included seven straight national titles and three straight years of being recognized as Canada’s best boxer.

The crowning achievement came in 2004, when he represented his adopted homeland in the Summer Olympics. A loss to current Cuban prospect Yordanis Despaigne ended his days in the non-pay ranks, closing out his career with an eye-popping record of 103-18.

Success in the pro ranks wasn’t as easy to come by. He turned pro some eight months after the Olympics, with most of the early years spent facing the usual suspects. While he became a nationwide draw early in his career, the road to contention was slow and deliberate.

Then out of nowhere, Pascal and his handlers decided it was time to ramp it up and take on the best.

Perhaps it was his getting spooked on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, surviving a couple of brief scares in the later rounds against Omar Pittman in an otherwise lopsided decision win. Sometimes, such an event serves as cause to slow things down and play it safe.

Instead, Pascal received a major upgrade in competition and his first crack at a major title.

He traveled all the way to jolly old England, conceding hometown advantage to Carl Froch in what turned out to be a fantastic super middleweight brawl that aired via tape delay a few weeks later in the U.S.

The year wasn’t the best way to leave an impression on the American boxing public. Still, his bravery shown in the fight with Froch was enough to convince some fans that there was plenty of substance to complement his flashy style. 

What was missing – or so believed Pascal and his team – was that extra oomph if he were to make any noise in the super middleweight division.

It was soon decided that he wouldn’t, instead electing to move up seven pounds to the light heavyweight division.

His body hasn’t stopped thanking him.

“There came a moment when I wasn't interested in making 168 lbs.,” Pascal revealed. “My fat percentage is very low and losing the extra seven pounds was entirely a loss in water weight. The 175 lb division is a far better choice for me.”

Proof came in his full-fledged divisional debut (excluding over-the-weight tune-ups during his run at super middleweight). Once again, the cameras were rolling for the American viewing public, with Versus still hanging around in its last days in the boxing market.

This time around, Pascal made the most of his 15 minutes, scoring a mid-rounds knockdown en route to a well-earned unanimous decision and an alphabet title at his new favorite weight.

Perhaps even more important was a passing of the torch moment of sorts, in terms of house attraction. The fight took place at the Bell Centre, where Pascal will face Dawson this weekend.  Diaconu had become a major draw in the arena, but it’s been Pascal who has since become its favorite son.

Saturday night will mark his fourth straight headliner at the venue, eight months following perhaps one of the bravest showings in recent boxing history.

Three rounds into his rematch with Diaconu last December, Pascal suffered what turned out to be a separated shoulder. Whereas most fighters would’ve sought the nearest exit, he instead fought with the injury for another seven rounds before his corner could pop it back into place prior to the championship rounds. Pascal braved the pain and held off Diaconu to take another decision win over his countryman, his fourth win of an amazing bounceback campaign in 2009.

The injury was enough to put him on the shelf for most of this year, with his date with Dawson agreed upon months ago. The delay was long enough to watch several others in the light heavyweight division perform, including Cloud’s narrow win over Johnson last weekend.

Naturally, boxing fans hoped all along that the winners produced in the back-to-back Saturdays will square off later this year or early in 2010, but for the moment there is only one fighter on Pascal’s mind.

“Me and my team will take the opportunities one at a time,” Pascal boldly stated when asked about his thoughts of a future fight with Cloud should he get past Dawson this weekend. “We should not think past the present opportunity, which is Chad.”

But that’s not to say he wasn’t an interested observer in what occurred last week.

“I found the fight very intriguing. It was a close fight and from it, I was able to see strengths and weaknesses in both boxers. For me, the fight was pretty close to call and both boxers are of very high quality.”

So, too, are the two fighters on display this weekend, even if there’s a difference of opinion over which one is better. The consensus belief is that the top spot is Dawson’s to lose, but that there are plenty of threats circling the vacant crown, Pascal perhaps chief among them.

It’s no secret that Dawson is one of the more self-confident fighters in the sport. Some mistake it for arrogance, while others rightly view it as his belief in his skills, of which few in the sport today can match.

Pascal certainly doesn’t lack confidence in his own abilities – you don’t fight Froch and two with Diaconu in a 12-month span, then Dawson after a stretch on injured reserve and without a tune-up unless you believe you are that good.

But at the same time, he recognizes that it takes more than words to convince others where you truly belong in the thick of things.

“Media vary in their views in terms of who is the best boxer at 175 lbs.,” Pascal states when asked if he’s annoyed that most have Dawson rated higher for the moment. “Like everything else, there is no one universal way to evaluate who is the best.

“That said, I think highly of Chad Dawson.”

With a strong enough showing this weekend, chances are that Dawson and millions of others will leave thinking very highly of Jean Pascal as well.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .