By Rick Reeno
WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal, and his promoter Yvon Michel, were not happy with the recent comments which appeared on BoxingScene.com from Chad Dawson's promoter, Gary Shaw.
Pascal will defend his title against interim-champion Dawson, who also holds the IBO title, on August 14 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
In a recent BoxingScene piece, Shaw discussed his plan to pursue a fight between Dawson and another Canadian star, super middleweight champion Lucian Bute.
Shaw told BoxingScene: - "I have respect for Jean Pascal, but I don't see him beating Chad Dawson...no way. [Chad is] too fast, too technical, too big. I see us winning the fight. The same type of fight as Glen Johnson. And hopefully after this I can bring Bute to the table. Dawson is an HBO fighter. Bute is an HBO fighter. It's a natural fight. He can come up to 175 or we can meet him at a catch-weight."
According to Michel, there is a rematch clause on both sides, but Pascal, after reading Shaw's comments, vowed to inflict enough punishment on Dawson that a rematch will never be pursued.
"Jean Pascal said 'there is a rematch clause, but I will beat up on Dawson so bad that he won't claim the rematch, so I will give him a first class route to the Pascal-Bute fight,'" Michel said to BoxingScene.com.
"Chad Dawson and Gary Shaw don't know nothing about Jean Pascal, comparing him to Glen Johnson. So if that's the way they are preparing, we are very happy. They are going to be in for a huge surprise."
Shaw doesn't see any possibility of Pascal winning, and Michel doesn't see any possibilty of Dawson winning. Michel sees Dawson as the opponent who will make Pascal a star in the United States. Pascal is already a big ticket seller in Canada.
"There is nothing that Chad Dawson does that Jean Pascal can not do better. Jean Pascal is more versatile, he's explosive, he can move. Chad Dawson is just boring and can not sell a ticket in his own place," Michel said. "I think the biggest crowd he ever had was maybe a 1,000 people."
"That's why they have to come to Montreal. They have no choice. Because Pascal is the draw and Bute is the draw. When he fought Glen Johnson in Hartford, he was booed during the fight because he has such a boring style.
Michel believes Dawson/Shaw are paying too much attention to Pascal's decision loss to Carl Froch in December 2008. Even during the fight with Froch, Michel says Pascal was dealing with an ongoing issue with his shoulder, which required corrective surgery a few months ago. Michel feels Dawson is a very overrated fighter, while Pascal is not rated high enough. But he predicts everything will change after August 14.
"What has he accomplished so far? He fought guys who are 160-years-[old] together. This is what he has accomplished so far. He never fought anybody so explosive and so exciting, and as hungry, as Jean Pascal is," Michel said.
"[Adrian] Diaconu was a stronger, much tougher fighter - that Chad Dawson avoided. He decided not to fight him and vacated his belt. Pascal fought Diaconu twice, and won both. Pascal said, after August 14 Dawson will not want a rematch and Pascal will promise to give him a first class ticket to the Pascal-Bute fight."