By Jake Donovan
Photo (c) Scott Foster/Fightwireimages.com
A lot has happened in the world since Antonio Tarver last won a fight (October 2005, for those keeping score). The Chicago White Sox finally won a World Series. Jerome Bettis would retire on top, or at least as part of a Super Bowl winning team. A year later, Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts would finally win the big one. The Democrats regained control of Congress (or so we're told).
Plenty has changed in boxing as well, including the light heavyweight division. As Tarver very well knows, Bernard Hopkins became the new alternate of choice to those who don't consider undefeated Hungarian, Zsolt Erdei the division's linear champion.
As is the case in the heavyweight division, the biggest threats seem to reside outside of the states. Poland's Tomasz Adamek and Australia's Paul Briggs became major players in their pair of instant classics against one another, both won by Adamek by way of majority decision. Croatian southpaw beanpole Stipe Drews and England's Clinton Woods both became new players by conquering old foes (Silvio Branco and Glen Johnson, respectively).
Johnson still remains a player, thanks to the movement that states 35-and-older in order to gain entry in the light heavyweight sweepstakes. 42-year old Hopkins is getting ready to face 35-year old middleweight contender Winky Wright in a catchweight bout. Johnson is just one of three 38-year old Floridians who continue to hover around the top of the light heavyweight division, Tarver and Roy Jones being the others.
One major development in the division that doesn't involve passports or senior citizen discounts is the emergence of undefeated "Awesome" Chad Dawson . Showtime viewers have become well acquainted with the boxer-puncher, having appeared on America's #1 Fight Network three times in the past eighteen months. He makes it number four this weekend (Saturday, 9PM ET/PT), when he takes on Jesus "Chuy" Ruiz on a card that also includes Tarver's return to the ring for the first time in a year, as he faces Elvir Muriqi.
On paper, the card is little more than showcase bouts for Dawson and Tarver. The general perception of such cards is that it leads to the winners perhaps facing off against one another in the near future. Dawson is willing, in fact eager to begin the movement of "out with the old…" at 175 lb.
Tarver, however, insists that it's still his call.
"I am the people's champ and they all got to come through me if they want to get paid and if they want to get rich and famous," insists Tarver. "I respect Chad because he seems like a very sophisticated and intelligent young brother. But he needs to slap his manager (Mike Criscio) and his promoter (Gary Shaw) in the mouth because every time they open their mouth, the line gets longer."
Luckily for Dawson, Tomasz Adamek didn't share the same attitude. He could've milked his reign at least one fight further, especially after coming off of his second hard-fought victory over Paul Briggs in less than eighteen months. After turning away Briggs, Adamek was left without a mandatory challenger. Dawson was set to face Stipe Drews for such status, but Drews instead opted for business over pleasure, going straight for another portion of the light heavyweight crown in a more lucrative bout against Silvio Branco, whom he already bested four years ago.
Adamek had the option of demanding the sanctioning body that claimed his as champion order Dawson to face the next highest challenger, but instead decided to give the young lion a crack at his title and undefeated record. Showtime picked up the tab, airing the bout on the eve of the Super Bowl. Dawson enjoyed the game of his life for nine-plus rounds before getting clipped in the 10 th. He recovered and did enough in the championship rounds to preserve his lead and undefeated record, while snatching Adamek's 0 in the process.
The win may not rival Tarver's best achievements – wins over Roy Jones and Glen Johnson – but it's more than Tarver has accomplished in the ring in the past seventeen months. Antonio is 0-1 since the rubber match with Roy; Dawson has won five straight in that same span. Tarver gets credit for facing nothing but the best in the past three years, with six straight fights coming against Jones, Johnson and Hopkins. That's the good news; the flip side is that Tarver is only batting .500 in that series, having not won more than two straight since 2003, prior to the first Jones fight.
Yet, in an era where supposedly too much emphasis is placed on glossy records, Dawson still can't catch a break. Any discussions about the top players at light heavyweight still involve Hopkins (rightfully so), Johnson, Tarver and even Jones. Perception is reality, and Gary Shaw, Dawson's promoter, blames the quartet for creating the illusion that there only four light heavyweights matter.
"What they want to do is they want to ruin boxing. The old guys want to fight all the old guys, like a senior league," claims Shaw. "Chad Dawson is the best fighter out there at 168 and 175. He is a premium fighter and they know if they go in there, they are bound to take a loss. That is why they are avoiding Chad."
Meanwhile, superstardom continues to elude the ambitious New Haven (CT) product. This weekend was intended as a continued rise toward the top, as Shaw had hoped to match his undefeated budding star against Paul Briggs. However, Briggs' promoter, Don King, nixed the idea of such a fight, to Briggs' dismay, leaving Dawson without a dance partner.
Showtime came up with the idea of showcasing Dawson and Tarver in separate bouts. The plan makes sense. Tarver represents the presents perhaps on the verge of becoming the past, with Dawson being groomed as the future of the light heavyweight division.
Dawson's fate, however, appears stuck at the crossroads, one that is backed up due to prolonged traffic at memory lane.
As Tarver bides time in citing press conference insults as grounds to put such a fight on hold, he instead calls out the division's golden oldies in hopes of one last run.
"The difference between me and Chad is, I have options and he needs me," claims Tarver. "Even if Hopkins doesn't want to face the best version of Antonio Tarver, and not the version he faced last year, I can still go after other guys. There's a third fight with Glen Johnson.
"To be honest, I think a fight with Jeff Lacy would be more credible because I think Jeff has the bigger name right now than Chad Dawson. I am on the record saying that because I think I can really show the world what a guy like (Joe) Calzaghe should have done… Calzaghe is another option. He's fool's gold. If he wants to fight, I am willing and ready to step up to fight. I think that fight makes more sense than a Chad Dawson fight."
Of course, none of this will matter should either Tarver or Dawson (or both) lose this weekend. Assuming all goes as planned, and Tarver is not in Dawson's future, a contingency plan is already in place.
"Hopefully everything will go according to plan and we can get hooked up with a fight with Tarver," suggests Dawson. "Otherwise, I can still make 168. For me to go down to 168 would not be a real big problem."
It would be a problem for the light heavyweight division, which for the moment appears stuck on a past without a future.
