you don't fight dawson to warm up for pascal! especially if you have a rematch clause. dawson gave up his title, so he's out of the title picture. pascal-diaconu 2 sounds like a great idea. they fought an amazing fight, and they drew a big crowd. diaconu needs to fight regularly, build up his sharpness.
Diaconu must improve his timing if he hopes to beat Pascal, to compensate for the speed difference. That split-second gap he was missing could be the result of the time off. Hope we get to find out down the line. If his timing was a fraction better, he wins by KO/TKO. But it wasn't, and props go to Jean Pascal.
i think thye should fight on the same card. diaconu v someone who can give him some rounds, pascal v branco. diaconu came on well late, so who knows, he may be able to get started earlier and we'll see how pascal copes
Obviously it wasn't but he couldnb't get more fights before so he fought like it was. Maybe he can get a decent fight before the rematch happens(if it does).