Jean Pascal: 'I'm A Warrior, I'm A Soldier, I Don't Need Lucian Bute'

WBC light heavyweight (175 pounds) champion Jean Pascal of Canada took time to speak with FanHouse on Tuesday regarding the events of Aug. 14, when he defeated southpaw WBC interim titlist Chad Dawson (29-1, 17 knockouts), of New Haven, Conn., by an HBO-televised, 11th-round, technical unanimous decision before his screaming hometown fans at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. At ringside was Romanian-born southpaw fellow Canadian, and IBF super middleweight king Lucian Bute (26-0, 21 knockouts) to watch Pascal, who also expressed interest in 45-year-old former titlist Bernard Hopkins (51-5-1, 32 KOs) of Philadelphia and 38-year-old ex-champion Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KOs) of Wales. A winner of won five straight fights, two of them by knockout, Pascal (25-1, 16 KOs) has not lost since a December 2008, unanimous decision to England's Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KOs) for the vacant WBC super middleweight (168 pounds) title. Pascal shared his thoughts on his future, including a potential unification bout with IBF champ, Tavoris Cloud (21-0, 18 KOs), in this Q&A. FanHouse: So what has life been like for you since you won the title? Jean Pascal: No sleep. Media every day. People trying to track me down in the streets. But now, I'm trying to take it easy, because my daughter has just begun to go back to school. So what is your daughter's name? Angel. She's a 7-year-old. Taking her back to school was okay. She was kind of sad and happy at the same time. She's going to a private school. She knows that at the end of the day that she's going to come back to the house and be home. The thing with her is that for the last four months, I saw maybe a total of one month. Because I left for training camp in May. So since May, I wasn't there, and that was pretty hard for her. So when I got back, a week after the fight, she's started school. So we didn't have a lot of time to spend together before that and stuff like that, you know? So who would you like to fight next -- Lucian Bute, Bernard Hopkins, Chad Dawson, Tavoris Cloud? Lucian Bute. I would like to fight Lucian Bute. But I don't need to chase Lucian Bute, because I'm the boss in town. I'm the king of my division right now. I beat one of the best fighters, pound-for-pound, in the world. And, you know, that was kind of funny. Because Bute has said to the Montreal media that I was chasing him. But I'm the one who always talks about him. And the only reason that I talk about him is because I know how to speak French, and the media talks and asks questions about Bute. I don't need Bute to make my money. I don't need Bute to be popular. I don't need Bute at all. Bute needs me because, right now, he's stuck with nobody. Even HBO doesn't want his fight. Not even Showtime. If he wants to fight on ESPN, he can take those easy fights like Jesse Brinkley and Jean Paul Mendy. But me, I know that without Bute, I can still make millions of dollars. So Bute, don't get me wrong, I don't need you. I don't chase you. The only reason why I'm talking about Bute is because the journalists ask the questions about Bute. And that's all. What is your relationship with Lucian Bute, and did you get an opportunity to speak with him at ringside the night of the fight? I didn't have the chance to talk to him that night. There were no words between me and Lucian Bute. But there's no bad feelings. I have nothing against Lucian Bute. I think that he's a great guy and that he's a good boxer. But business is business. In the square, in the ring, I'm the best, and I'm the boss. If Lucian Bute thinks that he's the best, then he's got to prove it against one of the best, pound-for-pound. You know, I beat the best in my division, and on top of that, one of the best in the world, you know? So I just proved myself, you know? If Lucian Bute wants to prove that he's better than me, then this is what it's going to take, you know? I'm the best. And if he really thinks that he's the best, then let's fight, because I love challenges. It would be a great challenge for me. How badly do you want to fight Bernard Hopkins? Bernard Hopkins, I would love to fight Bernard Hopkins. He has a lot of experience, he's a legend, and he has a big name, and he has good skills. That would be another great challenge for me. I just want to prove to myself that I deserve to be in the ring with a guy like that, and that I belong with the elite fighters in the world. Not only in my division, but among the best fighters, pound-for-pound. Were you ever hurt in your fight with Chad Dawson? Never. Never. I never hurt. Before the fight, people were telling me that Chad can't punch. That's not true. He not the biggest puncher that I've ever met, but he has a decent punch. And, but I never got hurt by Chad Dawson. Were you ever tired against Chad Dawson? Of course. Of course I was a little bit tired, because boxing is like going to war, you know? You never what can happen. You never know if you're going to get hurt. If you will come back. So someone can get tired, and I was never exhausted. I had plenty of energy left, but I was a little bit tired. It's because, you know, every round, I was bringing it 100 percent. I went 100 percent every round, because if you fight 12 rounds, and the fight is over, and you come out and you're not tired, then there is something wrong. I'm in great shape, but if you go 100 percent each round, then at the end of the fight, you must be tired. Did it bother you at the end of the fight that Chad Dawson blamed you for head-butting, said that you had been doing it the entire fight, and seemed to imply that had the fight gone the distance, he would have knocked you out? That doesn't bother me, but I think that that was a little bit low, coming from him. I expected him to accept his defeat with class like I did against Carl Froch. Carl Froch, you know, he beat me, you know? That night, Carl Froch was the best in the ring, you know? And, I didn't take anything from him. He beat me, he was the better man in the ring on that night. And I just went back to the gym and the drawing board and I came back stronger, you know? But to give excuses, that's low. If you're a champion, you're supposed to win like a champion and lose like a champion and come back like a champion. How different are you as a fighter right now than the one who fought Carl Froch as a 168 pounder. The most important thing is that I have more energy as a light heavyweight, because I don't knew to drain myself to make weight. Because when I was at 168 pounds, I had to lose, like, 15-to-18 pounds. I was too low. Because I moved up in weight, that's helped me a lot with my energy. I can stay more focused, I can keep my strength and energy. If Lucian Bute and Bernard Hopkins don't work out, would you want to fight Tavoris Cloud or go right into exercising the rematch clause with Chad Dawson? I'm a warrior, I'm a fighter, I'm a solder. I will fight anyone, anybody, anytime, anywhere. I'm a boxer, but I'm also a huge boxing fan. I like to go to shows as a fan because I'm a fan of boxing. Tavoris Cloud is like me. He's hungry, he's a young lion, and he wants to prove himself like me. So, for sure, if he wants to fight me, I have no problem to take that challenge, you know? I don't want to be the best in the world and not beat the best in the world. I want to beat the best in the world. In the meantime, there's a martian invasion on America. I want to be the best in the galaxy. From Fan House