Roach might train Dawson

NEW YORK -- The next time Chad Dawson gets into the ring he could have a new voice in his corner. Representatives for Dawson, the former light heavyweight champion who suffered a one-sided defeat to WBC champion Jean Pascal last month, have contacted Freddie Roach about possibly training the 28-year-old Dawson for his next fight.

"There have been some calls," Roach told SI.com. "I just don't know about his work ethic. Chad has a lot of talent; I just don't know why he doesn't use it. Something is missing there. Me looking from the outside, it's hard to say [what it is]. I'd love to train him. I think I could get him motivated. He has tools. He can be a fighter if he wants to. I just want to figure out what is wrong."

Roach said he would approach a relationship with Dawson (29-1) the same way he did Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., another talented fighter with a questionable work ethic. If Dawson does the work, he stays. If he doesn't, Roach goes home.

Roach will be tied up for the next two months working with Manny Pacquiao in advance of Pacquiao's November 13 super welterweight fight with Antonio Margarito. However Dawson isn't expected to return to the ring until early next year, when he can exercise a rematch clause with Pascal.