Jean Pascal, Chad Dawson to co-feature PBC card, Dec. 8

Pascal will take on Ahmed Elbiali while Dawson will face Edwin Rodriguez.

Jean Pascal (31-5-1, 18 KOs) and Chad Dawson (34-5, 19 KOs), two former light heavyweight world champions, have just been scheduled to co-feature a December 8th PBC in Florida. ESPN reports that the card will be held at Hialeah Park, which sits right outside of Miami, and will air on Fox Sports 1 / Fox Deportes.

Pascal, 35, will be coming off of a majority decision loss to Eleider Alvarez in June to take on Ahmed Elbiali (16-0, 13 KOs) in this outing. Pascal's gone 2-3 in his last five fights, and two of those included comprehensive beatings from Sergey Kovalev. If Pascal has anything left to offer, this will be the place the show it.

"This is not only a comeback fight, but I'm ready to battle for my career on Dec. 8," Pascal said. "They're trying to give this young guy a test against a former champion and he's going to try to use me as a ladder to the next level in this sport. I have a dangerous opponent and I'm going to be ready for him. When I fought Bernard Hopkins I was the young lion, now it's the other way around and I'm going to be ready to show him something he's never seen before."

Meanwhile, Dawson, 35, will be coming off a stoppage loss to Andrzej Fonfara in March to face Edwin Rodriguez (29-2, 20 KOs), and it's pretty clear Dawson's best days are behind him. It's almost hard to think that just a few years ago Dawson was a top pound-four-pound fighter in the sport — one who has since crashed and burned ever since dropping down in weight to challenge Andre Ward in 2012. Dawson took some serious punishment in that loss and hasn't been the same fighter since. He's gone 3-4 in his last seven and has been stopped in three of those bouts.

"I know Edwin Rodriguez very well from sparring together in the past," Dawson said. "We're both in a position where we really need this win, and that's going to make this an exciting fight. I'm motivated to do it one more time, and this time, I'm doing it right. I know that he's strong and aggressive, but I've been in fights like this. I'm prepared for that type of intensity level, and I'm ready to go out and enjoy myself. I think my boxing will be the difference in the fight, and that will get me back to where I've been in the past."

One has to wonder if Dawson's heart is still in the sport any more, especially after seriously considering retirement since the Fonfara loss, and his opponent, Rodriguez, will be looking to keep his bounce-back in motion since getting blitzed by Thomas Williams last year. Rodriguez most recently took a step back in competition to stop Melvin Russell this past July.

The opening PBC fight will be a scheduled 8-rounder between lightweights Austin Dulay (11-0, 8 KOs) and Raynell Williams (12-0, 6 KOs).