Hopkins vs Dawson: Jean Pascal Reportedly Promised the Winner By HBO

Jean Pascal has been promised a 2012 fight with the winner of the October 15 fight between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson, his promoter tells BoxingScene.com. Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KO) has of course fought both before, and is still likely to make his return on December 10.

The 28-year-old Pascal is the only man to date to defeat Dawson (30-1, 17 KO), which came last August. Since then, he's twice fought Hopkins. In December 2010, the two went to a controversial draw in Quebec City, and in May, they rematched in Montreal, with Hopkins winning to become the oldest champion in boxing history at age 46.

As for Pascal's next fight, GYM are targeting Zsolt Erdei (33-0, 18 KO) and Beibut Shumenov (12-1, 8 KO). Erdei, 37, is now promoted by Lou DiBella, and is looking to make a move back up into the top ranks of the division. The 28-year-old Shumenov holds the WBA belt, but has regressed in terms of ambition. While he started his career fighting what were very tough bouts for an inexperienced pro against seasoned veterans and good gatekeepers instead of slugs and nobodies, he's still kind of fighting "seasoned veterans" and "gatekeepers," which is becoming less and less excusable given that he calls himself "world champion."

But about that alleged 2012 promise to Pascal. Let's say Hopkins wins against Dawson on October 15. Are you really interested in a trilogy bout between the two? Their two fights together were interesting and entertaining enough in terms of action, but they were hardly classics, and although the record reads Hopkins as 1-0-1 in the fights, I think the overall feeling is he's basically 2-0 against Pascal and has proven his superiority. Pascal beating him in 2012 might come off more like Hopkins finally getting too old (he does have to sometime) and being beaten by a guy who wasn't good enough to knock him off when he was a spry 45 or 46 years old.