By Mark Vester
Antonio Tarver (26-4, 19 KOs) won't avoid a fight with WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (25-0, 17 KOs, 1 NC). The fight will happen sooner or later in 2008. BoxingScene.com's Keith Idec was on hand at the post-fight press conference, as Tarver was being heckled by chants of "stop ducking Dawson."
Tarver is not beyond a Dawson battle, but appears to have his mind sent on a clash with his Florida rival, former super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy. If everything goes as planned, the fight appears to be tentative for an unknown date in the month of April at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.
The fight almost took place in 2006, but fell apart for monetary reasons. Lacy must first win his bout with Peter Manfredo Jr., taking place on the Dec. 8 undercard to Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Ricky Hatton.
Tarver told Idec that he hopes Lacy wins his bout over Manfredo in impressive fashion to set up their April bout.
“Manfredo’s a tough guy, a very tough guy,” Tarver said. “With Jeff, I don’t know which Jeff is left. We haven’t seen much. He fought that one guy (Vitali Tsypko) after he lost to Calzaghe, and you can’t really put a feather in his cap to say he was back. You never know the lasting effects of a 12-round domination like that — psychologically and physically. So hopefully Jeff will bounce back, and he can show the world what we want to see (against Manfredo) and maybe he’ll be ready for me in April.”
Idec says the bout between Tarver and Lacy would top a Showtime televised doubleheader with Dawson defending his title against former champion Glen Johnson in the co-feature. If Tarver and Dawson both win, they would meet later in the year.
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