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A southpaw, Dawson made his pro debut in 2001. He quick move up the ranks and earned victories over an Gardner and Carl Daniels.

On June 2, 2006, in his bout with former title challenger and fellow southpaw Eric Harding (23-3-1), Dawson scored a unanimous decision victory, becoming the new NABF light heavyweight title holder. After suffering a flash knockdown in the opening seconds of the first round, Dawson dominated the fight and won a unanimous decision.

At age 24, Chad Dawson won the WBC light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision win over undefeated Pole Tomasz Adamek in 2007.

On September 29, 2007, Dawson defeated Epifanio Mendoza by fourth round TKO in his second title defense and, seven months later, retained the belt by a controversial unanimous decision victory over Glen Johnson.

On October 11, 2008, Dawson defeated IBF/IBO Light Heavyweight Champion Antonio Tarver. Dawson, who was more active and controlled the tempo, knocked down Tarver late in the fight and won easily on all three scorecards.

On 7 November 2009, Dawson once again outpointed Glen Johnson in their rematch. There was no controversy this time as Dawson won again via unanimous decision.

In 2010, Dawson lost his ranking as the world's best light heavyweight after meeting Canada's Jean Pascal, the reigning WBC champion. Pascal won the fight by technical decision in Round 11 after an accidental headbutt. All three judges had Pascal winning by a comfortable margin at the time of the stoppage.

Hopkins Bouts
Dawson initially won the The Ring and WBC Light Heavyweight titles due to controversial TKO win after Hopkins was unable to continue after getting thrown from a clinch. However, on October 20, 2011, the TKO ruling was ruled a Technical Draw by the WBC and Hopkins remained the champion. On December 13 the California State Athletic Commission changed the official decision to an No Contest (NC). Two days later, the WBC ordered a rematch between Hopkins and Dawson.

Dawson won the rematch with Hopkins via Majority Decision on April 28, 2012 to secure the The Ring and WBC Light Heavyweight titles.