Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that talks are underway for a Light Heavyweight showdown between new champion Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson that could take place this Fall.
“Richard (Schaefer) called me and said he wanted to discuss making the fight and I was excited because we were on the same page,” Said Dawson’s promoter Gary Shaw. “We talked about places we could do the fight, but we want to do the fight wherever we can make the most money. He agreed.
“We said we would both get on the phone with HBO on Monday and try to lock in a date. We basically have our deal done. We agreed to a split (of the revenue) and we agreed to a deal in concept.”
“The reason why the (Hopkins-Pascal) rematch happened is because Gary and Chad were supportive,” Schaefer said. “They could have made a stink about it but they didn’t. It was a very tricky negotiation in order to get Bernard the rematch with Pascal. Now Dawson deserves his shot.
“Gary and me had conversations before to work things out so Bernard could get the rematch with Pascal. All of those discussions should make it easy to get things into motion and get the fight between Bernard and Dawson done. I am very positive it will happen. It’s the fight Bernard wants and the fight Chad wants. So Gary and me are talking about it.”
“I got a call (Wednesday) from (a venue in) Las Vegas and they are interested. (Thursday) I had lunch with the people from the Staples Center (in Los Angeles) and they are interested as well,” Schaefer said. “I have talked to (Pascal promoter) Yvon Michel about going back to Canada. Atlantic City is interested as well. There is a tremendous buzz about Bernard Hopkins after he did what he did. The big rating HBO did means millions of people saw Bernard in one of his best performances. People want to see Bernard back.”
Even though Hopkins has been busy making the media rounds since breaking George Foreman’s record as the oldest fighter to win a title, he also was thinking about the impending fight with Dawson.
“I have to honor my agreement with Chad first,” he said of potential fights. “It’s me and him next.”
