I know Dawson wants to fight Pascal, but it's hard to imagine Pascal fighting soon with an injured arm. I want to see Dawson vs Hopkins.
What I heard today in the news is that Pascal's return in the ring, minimum June 2010. That's if everything goes 110% fine...
I'd love to see him take care of unfinished business and go after Cloud, or if that's not successful, Diaconu. Tavoris would be the first choice but it seems like getting Cloud in the ring is easier said than done for Dawson though.
HBO and Gary Shaw offered Cloud an opportunity to fight on HBO, only if he allowed Dawson to fight Johnson and keep the IBF belt. He turned that down, and grabbed the IBF belt instead.
The understanding was that Dawson-Cloud would happen after Dawson-Johnson II and Cloud's undercard fight to build up the fight on HBO. They wanted to put Cloud on the network once to build him up so Dawson wouldn't be facing a complete unknown. Cloud's team turned it down. Dawson, with an HBO deal already in place, then vacated the IBF belt Cloud was the mandatory for. Cloud then beats an easier opponent for less money on a smaller venue for that vacant IBF title. I won't call it ducking, but Team Cloud's actions said they didn't believe their man was ready for Dawson, even if Tavoris himself feels differently about it and he was the mandatory. It struck me like the Povetkin-Wlad situation, only Cloud was fortuitous enough to get himself a belt out of the deal.
Looks like bhop is close to signing a deal to fight Danny Green:deal Dawson just doesn't have the cash backing that Green does. Word is that Greens team offered Hopkins almost 3 x more then what gary shaw could come up with.
That is great news, now Dawson will stop chasing Hopkins and fight someone younger such as Cloud or even Diaconu (he has a score to settle with him).
**EXCLUSIF NEWS(from CKAC radio)**: Pascal had elbow surgery this morning at the "Cité de la Santé" hospital in Laval, Quebec.
It wasn't an elbow surgery, but a shoulder surgery. The doctors fixed a broken bone in his shoulder. Everything went well. He cannot move his arm for 3 weeks, and will need another 5 to 6 weeks afterwards for rehabilitation. Source: http://www.rds.ca/boxe/chroniques/288292.html (french sports media)
I heard on the radio that Pascal was in talks with 3 fighters as his next potential opponents, 2 of which were Dawson and Cloud
http://www.boxingtalk.com/pag/article.php?aid=18879 Dawson is also interested in fighting Tavoris Cloud and Jean Pascal. OT: Sad to read that Dawson was a victim of racial profiling shortly after his fight with Johnson.
Or Team Cloud's actions can be taken as... We just fought a title eliminator, my next stop SHOULD be a title shot.. I shouldn't have to wait in line for someone to fight a rematch with a guy he just beat.. It was his turn for that opportunity, and he got what he worked for... Now lets see if he can get Chad Dawson in the ring....
It's karma coming back to bite him in the ass after all of his discrimination against fighters under 40 yrs old.
