Shaw: Dawson Has To Knock Pascal Out To Win in Canada!

By Lem Satterfield

Promoter Gary Shaw expects Chad Dawson's rematch with WBC/IBO light heavyweight king Jean Pascal of Canada to take place in "in March or April" of next year. In the first meeting, Pascal won an eleven-round technical unanimous decision over Dawson at the Bell Centre in Montreal in August. Last Saturday' main event at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, between Pascal and 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins, ended in a controversial, majority draw.

Shaw is not surprised at the controversial outcome of Pascal-Hopkins. Shaw has been complaining about the officials in Canada since his lightweight, Ali Funeka, was hit with a controversial majority draw against Joan Guzman in November, 2009 in Quebec.

"I've said all along that Canada is as bad as Germany. You need to knock the fighter out twice to win. I've gotten a raw decision with Ali Funeka, and they stopped the fight in the 11th round with Jean Pascal to save Pascal," Shaw said. "I mean, there was no need to stop that fight between Jean Pascal and Chad Dawson. And now, Bernard Hopkins and Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer have gotten a taste of what I've been talking about."

"So, Canada's got a bad reputation. Now, when Chad Dawson goes up to fight Jean Pascal, he's going to know that we need know that we've got to knock Jean Pascal out to win the fight. You can't win a decision in Canada, and you can't win a decision in Germany."

The original fight contract calls for the winner, who was Pascal, to decide the location of the rematch. Shaw expects Pascal's side to pick a location in Canada for the rematch with Dawson.

"You see, the problem is that in the United States, we try to treat everybody fairly. So if you're a Canadian fighter, or a Russian fighter, a German, or an Englishman, you're going to get a chance in the United States because the United States' judges aren't all from one country, usually, in their respective nationalities," Shaw said.

"You can't say the same for Canada. Canada, you know, it's just a tough place to win. I've said this publicly after the Funeka fight, I said it publicly after the Dawson fight, and I said it to the Canadian Commission. But, I have a great fighter in Chad Dawson, and we're going to go there and try to knock Jean Pascal out, because we know now that that's what we have to do to win."

Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.