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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Chad Dawson simply saw no other options.
After several months on the short end of verbal exchanges with fellow 175-pound title claimant Antonio Tarver, the normally soft-spoken Connecticut southpaw finally decided it was time to fire back.
As a result, the two combined for a dissension-packed press conference last week and ratcheted up the tensions leading into their bout for the IBF light heavyweight crown Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“He talks a lot, and I’ve been hearing it for a year, a year and a half or two years as I’ve been trying to make this fight happen,” Dawson said in a Monday night telephone interview. “And after a while I just get tired of hearing someone’s mouth going like that all the time.
“I’m normally a quiet guy, but he just aggravates me. He’s definitely a better talker than me. He’s not a better fighter, he’s a better talker. But there’s a lot of difference between talking and fighting.”
Now 26, Dawson relinquished his thrice-defended WBC belt to meet the 39-year-old Tarver - who’ll be making defense No. 1 of the IBF title he won with a unanimous decision over Clinton Woods in April at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.
Dawson’s last fight was in the final pre-main event bout on that card, where he scored a close but unanimous decision over former IBF champ Glen Johnson, winning by 116-112 counts on all three scorecards. [details]
After several months on the short end of verbal exchanges with fellow 175-pound title claimant Antonio Tarver, the normally soft-spoken Connecticut southpaw finally decided it was time to fire back.
As a result, the two combined for a dissension-packed press conference last week and ratcheted up the tensions leading into their bout for the IBF light heavyweight crown Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“He talks a lot, and I’ve been hearing it for a year, a year and a half or two years as I’ve been trying to make this fight happen,” Dawson said in a Monday night telephone interview. “And after a while I just get tired of hearing someone’s mouth going like that all the time.
“I’m normally a quiet guy, but he just aggravates me. He’s definitely a better talker than me. He’s not a better fighter, he’s a better talker. But there’s a lot of difference between talking and fighting.”
Now 26, Dawson relinquished his thrice-defended WBC belt to meet the 39-year-old Tarver - who’ll be making defense No. 1 of the IBF title he won with a unanimous decision over Clinton Woods in April at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.
Dawson’s last fight was in the final pre-main event bout on that card, where he scored a close but unanimous decision over former IBF champ Glen Johnson, winning by 116-112 counts on all three scorecards. [details]
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