Chad Dawson says he's a free agent, looking to get back into the ring with a top promoter

Chad Dawson, who has twice held the WBC light heavyweight title and is also a former IBF titleholder, says he's now a free agent and looking to get back into the ring with a top-level promoter, which likely means he's looking to sit down with Golden Boy Promotions and/or Top Rank.

Dawson, 31, is coming off of back-to-back losses for the first time in his career. In September 2012, he moved down to super middleweight to face Andre Ward, a regrettable decision that saw a weight-drained Dawson physically dominated and forced to pull himself out of the fight in the 10th round. In June of this year, he traveled to Montreal and was knocked out by Adonis Stevenson in 76 seconds.

Now, "Bad" Chad says he's free from Gary Shaw, who promoted him (and promoted him well) through all of his major career. Shaw is one of many American promoters being slowly (or not so slowly, I guess) squeezed out of the higher ranks of the sport by GBP and Top Rank, who have been in the process of locking down the vast majority of the U.S.-relevant fighters. Shaw continues to do some fights, as do Lou DiBella, Kathy Duva's Main Events, Dan Goossen, and Don King, but it's beyond obvious at this point that the second-tier promoters are being whittled away to nearly nothing by the deeper pockets and big TV connections of the big two.

Dawson (31-3, 17 KO) says he's still in his prime, and he may be, but Chad has a lot of other issues beyond just being weight-drained and getting clobbered by a big puncher in Stevenson. He has run through trainers incredibly fast over his career, and his dedication and whatnot have been questioned several times. There is some thought that Dawson has all the physical tools but lacks some of the mental grit and toughness to be an elite fighter, and at 31, what we've seen is probably what we're going to get until he declines for good due to age.

Do you see Dawson winding up with Golden Boy or Top Rank soon, and if he does, who would you like to see him fight?