Chad Dawson (born July 13, 1982 in Hartsville, South Carolina) is an American boxer and the current IBO light heavyweight champion. Dawson was born to Wanda and Rick Dawson, a former boxer who compiled a (1-4-1) record. He has 4 brothers and 2 sisters. In search of work, Rick Dawson moved the family to New Haven, Connecticut in 1988. Dawson attended James Hillhouse High School from 1996 to 2000.

Dawson, a southpaw, made his professional debut after finishing 58-13 as an amateur and winning an under 19 national championship, then finishing for the silver in the world championships on August 18, 2001. He started at middleweight, moving up to super middleweight where he earned victories over notable opponents such as Ian 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 came away with judges scores of 117-110, 116-111, and 117-110.

At age 24, Chad Dawson won the WBC light heavyweight title against undefeated Pole Tomasz Adamek on February 3, 2007. The judges gave Chad Dawson a unanimous decision victory, with scores of 116-110, 117-109, and 118-108.

In June 2007, Dawson defended the WBC belt for the first time, in a fight with Jesus Ruiz (19-5-0), winning by technical knockout in round six. The fight was broadcast on Showtime as part of a card that featured former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver. On September 29, 2007, Dawson defeated Epifanio Mendoza by fourth round TKO in his second title defense. In April 2008 as his third title defense, Dawson retained the belt by a controversial unanimous decision victory against challenger Glen Johnson. The three judges each had the fight scored 116-112 in favor of the champion Dawson. Again aired on Showtime, for Dawson the card marked the second occasion for which he and Tarver fought in separate bouts on the same card, with Tarver winning each featured bout.

Dawson, who is married 2 years to Crystal and has 3 sons (Prince-Chadwick, Sir-Chancellor and Royal-Champion), still lives and trains in New Haven, Connecticut. He was formerly trained by "Iceman" John Scully, Dan Birmingham and Floyd Mayweather Sr., and is now employing the services of Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.

On October 11, 2008, at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Dawson fought IBF and IBO Light Heavyweight Champion Antonio Tarver. Dawson, who controlled the pace and landed most of the significant punches for a majority of the fight, was more active in methodically wearing out his opponent. Tarver landed the occasional punch, but Dawson was in control for most of the fight. With 2:11 left in the final round, Dawson scored a knockdown against Tarver, the only knockdown in the fight. Dawson won the fight by unanimous decision with scores of 117–110 from two judges and 118–109 from the third judge. Dawson earned $800,000 for the fight and Tarver earned $1 million.

On November 9, the day after Joe Calzaghe's win over Roy Jones Jr, Dawson issued a press release challenging Calzaghe and offering to fight him on his home turf in Wales. Dawson stated "I'm ready to give Joe the opportunity to draw the curtain on his great career in front of his family and friends and 70,000 fans," and "It's the best fight in the light heavyweight division between two undefeated champions." Calzaghe retired weeks later ending a successful career.

On May 27, 2009, Dawson vacated the IBF light heavyweight title to negotiate a rematch with Glen Johnson.