"Hopefully, it puts me right behind Floyd Mayweather as the pound-for-pound king; behind Floyd or Manny Pacquiao. I mean, I just hope this can be the launching of my career," stated WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, who talked about just how important his upcoming September 8th clash with super middleweight king Andre Ward means to him. Dawson, who already holds impressive victories over future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins, former light heavyweight champions Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, as well as former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek, is hoping that a victory over the undefeated Ward will be the launching pad to take his career to the next level...more specifically, the pay-per-view level.

"I remember when Floyd first came onto the scene, not when he came up the ranks, but when people started recognizing that this guys is one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world, I think it was right around the same time I think he was about 29 or 30 years old when he started getting the big paydays," Dawson explained in a recent interview with FightHype.com. "I feel like, you know, I'm at the point in my career; I've beaten big names, I've fought everybody they put in front of me, and I've never turned down a fight. I've done everything that my promoters, the boxing fans, and everybody has asked of me; I've done it. I feel like now is my time to come out and let everybody know who I am."

There's no denying that the winner of the September 8th clash will be in a position to become a superstar, and both men understand exactly what's at stake. "This is a big fight and there's a lot at stake for me and Andre Ward, so that's the reason it makes for a great fight because at the end of the day, we're both going to leave everything in the ring on the 8th. We know that the winner of this fight is going to go to the top," Dawson added.

BE SURE TO CHECK BACK SOON FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH WBC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION CHAD DAWSON