By Jake Donovan

Every so often there comes a fight so big, that it truly transcends the sport. All eyes are forced to gaze upon the spectacle, because after all, it’s all that anyone can talk about it.

Fans plan their vacations around the night, anxious to flock to the Vegas strip in anticipation of taking in what threatens to become an historic event.

By night’s end, the sport will never be the same. The result will leave people talking for weeks, with the evening’s winner in a prime position to take over the sport from the proverbial mountain on which he resides.

Then a week later comes a fight that sails completely under the radar, like this weekend’s light heavyweight rematch between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver, airing live on HBO from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If Manny Pacquiao’s history-making knockout over Ricky Hatton represented all that there is to be celebrated about the sport, then Dawson-Tarver II represents the other side – the side where we’re stuck with a fight nobody cares to watch, but comes about all due to a few legal lines in a binding contract.

The almighty rematch clause, which has forced many an undesirable rematch upon us in the past, is partially to blame for the 12-round bout which sadly represents this weekend’s biggest live offering. Then again, one could argue – out of sight, out of mind.

If the networks reject the fight, then perhaps it doesn’t get made due to one or both sides not being particularly fond of the available purse. No TV money lessens the chance of such a fight from taking place in an era where very few promoters are actually willing to promote.

But as is the case in every other sport, those with the power to conceal their checkbooks and simply say “No,” instead fear a bidding war emerging and head in the opposite direction – not only saying “Yes,” but also paying way beyond fair market value.

It’s a lesson that we thought HBO had learned by now, given the great strides the network has made in 2009 to re-establish its claim as the biggest and best game in town. Last weekend’s pay-per-view event was HBO’s first of the year, in comparison to past years where airing a telecast a la carte seemed to come a monthly habit.

Instead, they put their foot down and demanded the promoters feed them higher quality fights without insisting they go the premium route.

The move resulted in Shane Mosley turning back the clock in upsetting Antonio Margarito, without boxing fans having to pay $50 for the treat. For the modest price of a monthly subscription, boxing fans were also treated to the year’s leading Fight of the Year candidate, when Juan Manuel Marquez fended off a younger and determined Juan Diaz to rally back and flatten him in nine rounds.

Nearly every HBO telecast in ’09 has left boxing fans with plenty to talk about. Andre Berto’s narrow points win over Luis Collazo in a thriller; Nate Campbell digging deep to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against Ali Funeka; Sergio Martinez getting robbed twice in the same fight against Kermit Cintron; Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland, Victor Ortiz and Juan Manuel Lopez reassuring the public that the sport’s future is in good hands.

What hasn’t been commonplace has been the mind-numbingly dull business fights that have polluted the sport throughout the decade. Sure there have been cards that have come across as personal favors more so than a night of anticipated boxing.

But even with those came something to discuss. HBO owed Winky Wright a fight. He demanded that his middleweight scrap with Paul Williams take place in a Vegas town that was dead on the Easter weekend.

By night’s end, the story was no longer Winky fighting for the first time in nearly two years, but yet another brilliant performance from Paul Williams, who in similar fashion to Manny Pacquiao, even if on a much smaller staged, once again gave new meaning to the term “anyone, any place, any time.”

Chances are, there won’t be much to discuss this weekend, other than Dawson (27-0, 17KO) hoping to further his status as the best rising young light heavyweight. It is for that very reason that HBO agreed to the fight, snatching away yet another future star from rival Showtime, who have spent a considerable amount of time and money building up the undefeated southpaw.

HBO can’t be blamed for investing in talent, nor should the fighters be chastised for accepting a purse that far exceeds the interest surrounding the fight.

What is to blame is the fact that rematch clauses remain a part of the sport. Even worse, when it’s applied in situations that only slow momentum to a crawl.

Of course, people will want to then blame Antonio Tarver (27-5, 19KO) for being selfish enough to exercise the clause when there are much bigger fish to be fried in a light heavyweight division desperate for a revival.

But in fairness to the former divisional leader, the move protects his best interests. At age 40 and considerably past his prime, this weekend should represent the final grand payday in an uneven and largely hard-luck career. The Floridian has rubbed many the wrong way with his incredible sense of self-worth, but it was his brash persistence that led to the breakthrough moment in his career.

For years, he would shout to anyone who would listen his desire to square off with long time rival Roy Jones Jr. For years, his demands fell on deaf ears until Jones – and HBO – eventually gave in and greenlighted the fight.

The end result was a three-fight series that would define Tarver as a fighter, losing the first fight before emphatically getting right the second time around. His shocking two-round knockout of Jones in their May ’04 return go established his status as the master of rematches, having previously avenged a loss to Eric Harding, also by knockout.

Tarver added to his legacy a year later, reversing a split decision loss to Glen Johnson at the end of 2004 with a far more decisive win six months later. A points win over Jones later that year ran Tarver’s record to 4-0 when facing repeat opponents.

It will be a major uphill climb in order to make it five straight against familiar faces. His loss to Dawson last October was far more conclusive than against any other opponent he faced more than once in his 12-year career. So much so, that the only rematch people dreamed of that involved Dawson was hoped to be a return go with Glen Johnson, whom gave the Connecticut-based southpaw a much tougher go of things earlier in the year.

Their April ’08 encounter marked the lone occasion in which Dawson was forced to contend with sustained adversity.  Sure, he’s hit the deck before –in fact in back-to-back fights with Eric Harding and Tomasz Adamek. But the drama was brief on both occasions.

Dawson went down early against Harding before dusting himself off and dominating the rest of the fight. It was the opposite direction against Adamek, where the fight was stunningly one-sided for nine-plus rounds before he went down in a heap in the 10th, only to recover and close strong to take the wide decision as well as Adamek’s light heavyweight crown.

But it was a different story against Johnson, who remained in his face all night. The bout was tightly contested throughout, with Johnson fighting tooth and nail for most of the fight before coming on strong in the final four rounds. Many observers believed the old pro deserved the nod, only for Dawson to escape not just with a decision; but by surprisingly wide scores.

When a young prodigious talent like Dawson is pushed to the brink, fans naturally want to see him improve on the situation the second time around, and without too much time passing by.

Team Dawson wouldn’t grant the public their wish. Not before, nor after his brilliant performance against a faded Tarver last October.

Fair enough, said John Q. Public. You got your shine against Tarver, the fight you pursued for more than a year. Now how about taking care of unfinished business?

Nope.

Dawson’s handlers would secure a rematch with a 40-year old Florida-based light heavyweight, just not the one for which the public hoped.

Not that Dawson had much of a choice in the matter – not even vacating the alphabet belt in which he snatched from Tarver seven months ago would’ve negated the terms of the contract, the usual loophole one can find when opting out of a less than desirable situation.

Instead, we get what HBO can only reasonable present as an intro to the next level of one of the sport’s next great young fighters. It hasn’t stopped them from slowing down on the hyperbole – promo spots described their first fight as “action-packed”, and claim this weekend’s presentation to be that of a “highly anticipated rematch.”

HBO could’ve simply followed Dawson’s lead, merely stating “We had to” when asked why this rematch is happening on their airwaves. For them, overspending on a rematch nobody (outside of Team Tarver) called for is a small price to pay to ensure that the future of the light heavyweight division wears their company logo.

For boxing fans, one week after witnessing history in the making, the end result from this weekend will most likely be a stark reminder that no matter how good things are going, there’s always that other side to the sport.

ON A POSITIVE NOTE…

There’s at least one good reason to tune into this weekend’s telecast (Saturday, HBO, 9:30PM ET/6:30PM PT). In fact, it’s a great one, and could reasonably be done without having to sift through the aforementioned light heavyweight return go.

For those who missed it, or simply want to watch it again, HBO offers the exclusive rebroadcast for Manny Pacquiao’s knockout of Ricky Hatton last weekend in Las Vegas. The replay will precede the lived televised action, undoubtedly the chief selling point to this weekend’s telecast.

R.I.P. BENJAMIN FLORES, 1984-2009

It’s already been reported on Boxingscene.com, but from my fingertips to the Flores family’s eyes, a final ten count for fallen featherweight Benjamin Flores, who passed away early Tuesday morning, just over four days after his regional title fight with Al Seeger on April 30.

Flores leaves the sport with a record of 19-4 (6KO), and is survived by his parents, two siblings, his fiancé and his son Christopher Jesus.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Flores family, as well as with Georgia-based super bantamweight Al Seeger, always a class act and no doubt bearing a heavy burden at this time.
 
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Please feel free to contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.