In build up to their October showdown last year, Antonio Tarver was as vocal as ever regarding his opponent Chad Dawson. Repeatedly labeling his foe a ‘wounded duck’ due to his back and forth battle with Glen Johnson and calling into question Dawson’s lack of experience, Tarver’s pre fight verbal attack was as pristine as we had ever seen it. Unfortunately for Tarver, his actions in the right were much less stellar.
From the early going in their bout at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Dawson used his superior speed, combination punching, and fundamental gameplan to establish superiority over Tarver. Dawson knew when to box, when to attack, and for repeated stretches in the fight Tarver looked completely out of place. For as solid a career as Tarver has had, it truly looked as though age had caught up with the 39 year old on this night as he was beaten to the punch round after round. A late round knockdown of Tarver would put an exclamation point on the evening for Dawson as he rolled to a unanimous decision by scores of 118-109 and 117-100 twice.
It was clear to those watching that the torch had been passed and very people saw any reason for the two fighters to be doing any more business together in the ring. While there are surely many more appealing fights for Dawson to be eyeing, a rematch clause in the first fight has resulted in another pairing between Dawson and Tarver. This isn’t the fight that people in the sport have wanted for Dawson but it is what it is and all we can do is try to see the positives in the second Dawson-Tarver go round.
While a rematch with Glen Johnson or bouts with up and coming fighters such as Tavoris Cloud or Shaun George may have been more fan friendly, Tarver is still an opponent that needs to be respected for many reasons. For one, Tarver is a former champion who has often relied on his ring savvy just as much as his natural gifts in order to win him fights. He has to know that his back is against the wall coming into this fight and he will surely put everything into his training in order to give him the best shot at upsetting Dawson.
Another well documented key note is that Tarver is undefeated in return bouts. After losing initially to the likes of Johnson, Roy Jones, and Eric Harding, Tarver has redeemed himself inside of the squared circle impressively when fighting each man again. Whether he can work the same magic against Dawson remains to be seen but the Tampa native has surely shown a sound ability to adapt in the past.
The third glaring warning sign for Dawson is that of Tarver’s power. Behind all of his pre fight theatrics lies some definite substance and Tarver can definitely punch. His left hand can do some damage when landed, just as it did to Harding and Jones, and it needs to be respected.
At the end of the day one would be foolish not to tab Dawson as the favorite in this fight. The 26 year old has an impressive offensive variety to his attack and his youth and athleticism are going to be big hurdles for Tarver to overcome. Common sense would lead us to think that Dawson will again have his hands raised this coming Saturday night but Antonio Tarver surely has other plans and all we can do is take this matchup for what’s it’s worth…
