By Jake Donovan

Bring on the young guns.

Fans have for years been screaming for the light heavyweight division to get younger. Undefeated southpaw Chad Dawson is doing his part to bring the average age closer to 25 than 35, scoring his second straight rematch win over an elder statesmen, trumping Glen Johnson via 12-round unanimous decision Saturday evening at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.

Dawson weighed in at the division limit of 175; Johnson significantly lighter at 173 ½.

A more disciplined version of Dawson was on display on in the opening round, controlling the round largely on the strength of his jab, but also connecting with solid straight lefts. It was an outside fight for the undefeated southpaw, a tactic that greatly frustrated the shorter, no-nonsense Johnson, who continued to press but repeatedly caught nothing but air early on.

Johnson closed the gap – if ever so slightly – in the second round. Dawson was still working behind the jab, but Johnson was effective in at least forcing his younger and taller foe to fight in reverse. That changed late in the round, when Dawson caught Johnson momentarily napping and landed a flurry just before the bell.

After two rounds of jabs and straight lefts, Dawson introduced his right hook and body attack in the third. Both came sporadically, but managed to negate Johnson’s aggression whenever applied, though spending most of the round employing effective lateral movement.

The tactic was mistaken for running by Johnson’s corner, who asked their charge to cut off the ring and work the body. Dawson’s advice from head trainer and former light heavyweight champ Eddie Mustafa Muhammad was to continue jabbing. Dawson did a better job of listening than Johnson in the fourth, though a round which saw more posturing than punching.

It’s always a good thing when momentum of a good round spills over into the next. The exact opposite occurred in the fifth, which saw a similar lack of action to that of the fifth. What did change was Johnson’s will to win, after expressing disbelief upon hearing the news that he most likely lost each of the previous four.

Meanwhile, Dawson was content to use every inch of the ring, sticking and moving but only landing with authority in spots. The same was the case in the sixth, to which Johnson took advantage, as he was able to score cleanly upstairs for the first time in the fight. The boo birds began to chime after nearly three straight rounds of minimal action, though Dawson gave the hometown crowd reason to cheer after landing a hard straight left late in the round.

Dawson continued to stick and move in the seventh, though planting his feet long enough to land a double left hook, one to the body and the other up top. It was about as good as the action got in the round; Johnson was consistently short with his right, while Dawson’s remaining bag of tricks was limited to flipping back and forth between lefty and righty.

It was during the final four rounds of their first fight 19 months ago when Johnson was able to make a difference, thus creating controversy at night’s end when on the wrong end of a four-point disparity on all three scorecards.

No such magic occurred on this night; Dawson continued to control the pace and the distance, neither of which sat well even with his hometown fans, who never hesitated to voice their displeasure whenever action was lacking.

They got to speak their mind often, though Dawson offered moments of inspiration, throwing hard to the body in spots, but immediately sliding back and using his jab to prevent Johnson from attempting a counter attack.

More boos rained down as the bout entered the championship rounds. Dawson continued to not pay it any mind, sticking to the game plan that allowed him to win virtually every round. Johnson also employed the same strategy in the latter stages, providing a glimmer of success when Dawson was pinned against the ropes early in the 11th. It was the best the well-traveled Jamaican could offer, as Dawson was able to escape and go back to business.

While action never quite picked up in the final round, the crowd’s spirit did. Chants of “DAW-SON” echoed though the arena, in hopes of willing their favorite son to at least a spectacular finish. It never happened, as they would have to instead settle for a boxing clinic as the bout came to a close.

Both fighters raised their arms at fight’s end, though Johnson would be well short of supporters on this night.

He did, however, fare much better on the cards than anyone who made it through all twelve rounds could’ve imagined.

Matching scores of 115-113 from Duane Ford and Michael Pernick provided false hope to Johnson that someone agreed with his belief that he won the fight. Glenn Feldman’s tally of  117-111 was more in line with the fight the rest of the boxing world saw, which was a lopsided performance in favor of Dawson, who now improves to 29-0 (17KO).

Johnson, who expressed genuine shock and disappointment over the announcing of Dawson as the winner, falls to 49-13-2 (33KO).

It wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing performance, but was enough for Dawson to control throughout. Such was not the case 19 months ago, when the younger Dawson was bullied into a brawl and way out of his element.

Tonight was a different story, and had everything to do with Dawson remaining poised, even if at the risk of upsetting the paying patrons on hand.

“I did what I was said I was going to do,” Dawson insisted. “The first fight was a brawl. I didn’t want to make this fight this way. I wanted to outbox him and use my legs. I had youth on my side. It’s all about using all of the tools I have and applying in each fight.”

Four straight fights against Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver have fans hoping Dawson is more willing to apply such skills against younger opposition. At the very least, there’s no more unfinished business staring Dawson in the face.

“This chapter is closed. The Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver chapters are closed. Now I can fight new faces and reclaim my space at the top.”

Far more spirited performances than this will be required if he is to bring in the crowd. For now, a 27 year-young light heavyweight winning at the top level will have to be good enough.

ANGULO BATTERS YORGEY

Super welterweight contender Alfredo Angulo reminded boxing fans why we fell in love with him long ago, scoring a savagely beautiful third round knockout of Harry Joe Yorgey in the televised co-feature.

Both fighters came in below the super welterweight limit; Angulo was 153 ½, while Yorgey a shade lighter at 153 ¼.

A competitive fight threatened to surface in the first, but the inevitable surfaced as early as the second. Angulo, who was aggressive throughout (does he fight any other way) began to dial in with the right hand, to which Yorgey could do nothing more than block with his face.

The all-power attack from Angulo resulted in three separate knockdowns, though only two of them official. A right hand caught Yorgey in the corner, snapping back his head and leaving him open for a volley of punches before slumping to the canvas – before being caught with even more power shots.

A cleaner sequent of events transpired in the third, including another right hand that had Yorgey knocked out cold before he even hit the ground. Referee Johnny Callas, who played the role of spectator throughout even though his presence was required on more than one occasion, allowed Yorgey to take further unnecessary punishment before he eventually collapsed to the canvas in the proverbial heap.

The well-overdue ending finally came about, at 1:03 of the third round.

Angulo continues to put the Kermit Cintron loss earlier in the year further away in the rearview mirror. The 2004 Mexican Olympian improves to 17-1 (14KO) with the win, his second straight since the aforementioned loss six months ago.

Yorgey loses as a professional for the first time in his career, falling to 22-1-1 (10KO).

Both bouts aired live on HBO and were presented by Gary Shaw Productions.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .