“Bad Chad” Dawson In Studio On This Week’s Friday Night Fights Boxing Program

The personable and talented World Boxing Council (WBC) Light Heavyweight champion “Awesome” Chad Dawson will appear as an in-studio guest June 8 on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” (8 p.m. ET/PT on ESPN2).

The next evening, June 9, the undefeated Dawson (23-0, 1 NC, 15 KOs) will make the first defense of his crown when he faces hard-hitting Jesus “Chuy’’ Ruiz (19-4, 17 KOs) on Showtime Championship Boxing, 10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford , Conn.

In the co-main event, former undisputed light heavyweight champion Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver (24-4, 18 KOs) will take on New York-based Elvir “Kosovo Kid” Muriqi (34-3, 21 KOs ) for the vacant International Boxing Organization (IBO) light heavyweight title.

A promising, crowd-pleasing southpaw boxer-puncher, Dawson , 24, captured the WBC 175-pound belt with a decisive 12-round decision over previously unbeaten defending champion, Tomasz Adamek, Feb. 3, 2007, on SHOWTIME.