By Dan Ambrose: For boxing fans thinking that Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KO’s) sealed the deal for a fight with 46-year-old WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins by beating Adrian Diaconu last Saturday, think again.

According to Dan Rafael, Hopkin’s promoter Richard Schaefer is looking for “loopholes” to try and wiggle out of that fight. Rafael says that Hopkins’ management doesn’t want that fight. They’re looking for big fights, such as IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute.

That would be more than disappointing if Hopkins doesn’t end up facing Dawson, because the deal was that Dawson was to step aside and let the Hopkins vs. Jean Pascal rematch take place with the winner taking on him.

Dawson already had a clause in his contract with Pascal that he was supposed to fight him next before the Hopkins fight. However, Dawson stepped aside after the WBC ordered a rematch between Hopkins and Pascal after their 12 round draw last December.

HBO also preferred to show the Hopkins-Pascal II rematch than showing Pascal in a rematch with Dawson. However, Dawson is supposed to be fighting Hopkins now because of the agreement. That would be sad if Hopkins were to sidestep him for a guy like Bute, even though Bute is probably a lot more popular than Dawson.

Bute is also arguably easier to fight than Dawson because he’s not as quick and is easier to hit. Dawson is bigger than Hopkins with his speed and defensive ability; he could very well give Hopkins another loss. It’s not surprising then that Hopkins’ handlers are trying to get around having to fight Dawson.

I had a feeling something like this might happen. Dawson has been trying to get a fight with Hopkins for years, but Hopkins hasn’t wanted that fight for some reason. I think it’s because Dawson all wrong for him and his style of fighting.