Jean Pascal vs. Chad Dawson: Round By Round Results and Analysis

The Bell Centre in Montreal is the site of tonight's World Championship Boxing telecast on HBO, featuring a light heavyweight battle between Canadian Jean Pascal and one of the top American boxers at any weight, Chad Dawson.

Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward are the announcing crew on hand to call the action. A video package follows Dawson as he visits Montreal for the first time and gets some reactions from Pascal.

The tale of the tape shows that Dawson has a three-inch height advantage and an edge in reach as well. Both fighters have rehydrated to almost exactly the same weight for tonight's fight.

The night begins with a memorial 10-count for Jay Larkin, which is a nice touch. Michael Buffer introduces Dawson first, and he walks out to Eminem's "Not Afraid." Bad Chad is 29-0 with 17 KOs.

After a brief delay, the crowd responds for the flashy entrance for Pascal, who enters to "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled. The WBC light heavyweight titleholder is 25-1 with 16 KOs, with his lone loss coming to Carl Froch in December 2008.

Buffer does the fighter introductions in English and French, and we're all set for a scheduled 12 rounds of boxing.

Round One

Dawson comes forward early, reaching with the jab. Pascal jumps in to land his own jab. Dawson goes to the head and body as Pascal covers up. The fans cheer as Pascal knocks Dawson back with a left hook. Pascal has to duck to get in for his shots. He tries to rough up his foe on the inside and is warned for an elbow. Dawson throws a combo that is mostly blocked. Pascal lands a few shots with his right hand, including an uppercut.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Pascal

Uatu: 10-9 Pascal

Round Two

Pascal tries to open up fast, but Dawson whacks him with counter rights. Both men circle with their hands down. Pascal chases Dawson down to land a right. He lands another right on the inside and covers up as Dawson fires left hands. Chad corners his foe for a moment and tries to unload with both hands. Pascal lands a body shot and eats a jab coming back. Dawson ducks his way out of trouble as Pascal flurries, possibly sealing up this round for him.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Pascal

Uatu: 10-9 Pascal

Round Three

Dawson gets off first with a right hook. Lots of feinting leads to a clinch. Dawson stays committed to his jab. Pascal throws a three-punch combination to the body. He ducks in for a quick right hand and gets back out of range. Dawson has to cover up as Pascal rushes in again, and Chad seems to be having a bit of trouble with his foe's speed. Dawson settles in for a strong three-punch combo in the closing seconds.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Pascal

Uatu: 10-9 Pascal

Round Four

Pascal goes to the head and body, knocking Dawson back into the ropes. He dodges and circles away from a multi-punch counterattack. Dawson throws multiple jabs and sidesteps a Pascal charge. Chad keeps his left hand high to block a right hook. He's landing plenty of jabs, but not much else. Pascal charges in and is quickly tied up. Pascal lands a big right hand that leads to a legitimate exchange right before the bell. Tough round to score.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Dawson

Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round Five

Dawson hunts with his jab and an occasional straight left. He's controlling the distance very well right now. Pascal roughs Dawson up again on the inside, almost hitting and holding. Dawson lands a left, but Pascal charges in again with rights to the head and body. Both men land nice shots upstairs. More charging in by Jean, which is working pretty well.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Pascal

Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round Six

Pascal opens up as the aggressor, but Dawson is able to turn him around and land a mean right to the body. Dawson flicks out a stiff jab that lands flush. Pascal hops in with a left hand and tries to follow up. Dawson finally lands a counter hook that catches Pascal coming in. Both men attempt body shots with a minute to go. Pascal lands a left hook and a right while they scramble.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Dawson

Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round Seven

A right hand scores for Pascal through Dawson's guard. Jabs fly both ways, with some landing. Pascal hits and holds, and the ref breaks them up. Pascal lands a hard right on the chin, and the crowd responds. Pascal hooks with both hands, and Dawson simply covers up to ride out the storm. Dawson throws multiple shots to the body and is warned for going too low. Nothing of consequence lands in the final 30 seconds.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Pascal

Uatu: 10-9 Pascal

Round Eight

Dawson wins a brief battle of jabs in the center of the ring. Pascal rushes in and gets hit by a counter hook. Lampley reports that Dawson has complained of shoulder trouble. Both men land short shots before clinching. One-two combo mostly lands for Dawson. Dawson lands four in a row to the body but eats a huge right to the head. Dawson backs Pascal to the corner, but he's getting hit by ore shots right now.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Pascal

Uatu: 10-9 Pascal

Round Nine

Pascal rushes right out of the gate with a big flurry, catching Dawson with several shots. Chad comes forward, finally showing some urgency. He uses jabs to find the range. Dawson turns Pascal around and batters him with both hands, punctuating the flurry with a left hand. Pascal tries to regain momentum with another rush. Dawson deflects his opponent with a right hook that was well-timed.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Dawson

Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 10

More of the same in the opening seconds of this frame. Pascal uses two right hooks to make Dawson stumble for a second. A Pascal left is answered by a flurry from Dawson. Pascal scores with two quick uppercuts, and the ref warns someone for head butts. Pascal rushes in and Dawson slips down. Pascal attacks right away and peppers his man to the body. The HBO crew thinks Dawson just isn't active enough.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Pascal

Uatu: 10-9 Pascal

Round 11

Dawson comes out like a house on fire, smacking Pascal with both hands along the ropes. Pascal looks hurt as he turtles up and isn't throwing back. Dawson seems to be letting Pascal off the hook a bit here after so much early success. A stiff right hand by Dawson stuns Pascal, leading to a brief exchange. Dawson comes up bleeding badly near his right eye. Replays show it was definitely for a head butt, but it looked unintentional. The doctor looks it over and won't allow Dawson to continue.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Dawson

Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

It looks like we're going to the scorecards here, unless the ref rules it an intentional butt. I don't believe he did.

Tylwalk: 106-103 Pascal

Uatu: 105-104 Pascal

The judges score it 108-101, 106-103 and 106-103, all to the winner by technical decision, Jean Pascal.

Merchant speaks first to Pascal, who gives Dawson credit for being smart and clever. He says the way he won was with his speed and footwork.

Asked if he was tired, Pascal says no, and that his occasional lapses in energy were by design.

On the subject of a possible fight with fellow Canadian star Lucian Bute, Pascal seems very receptive. He also calls out Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe or anyone else at light heavyweight.

After getting his eye checked out, Dawson talks to Merchant. He complains a bit about Pascal holding and hitting and head butting. He talks about a rematch clause and seems confident he had Pascal hurt badly in the 11th round.

Merchant presses Dawson a bit because he claims he is not making excuses. That gets a boo from the Montreal crowd. Chad repeats his assertion that he was going to stop Pascal late.

Nick Tylwalk is the editor and co-founder of BoxingWatchers.com. Follow his Twitter feed @Nick_Tylwalk or the site's feed @boxing_watchers.