Tarver Gets Woods Thinking Retirement!
Dawson Squeezes Past Johnson!
By: Roger Winds
April 12th, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida IBO light heavyweight champion Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver 27-4, 19 Ko’s ran through the woods like the big bad wolf taking Sheffield, England’s Clinton Woods 41-4-1, 25 Ko’s IBF Light heavyweight belt with him. In the early rounds, Tarver controlled the fight with his jab, keeping Woods a pressure fighter just in his range. Woods cut in round one turned up the pace but the slick moving Tarver was beating the Englishman to the punch and with combinations. Round three mirrored the second it wasn’t until round four we saw any real power from either fighter. Near the end of round four Tarver landed a solid two punch combination whipping Woods head back. The middle rounds saw Tarver’s defense in control and the single shot plodding Englishman could not break through. In round seven Woods best round he caught Tarver on the ropes landed a good body shot but again never followed up. “Magic Man’s” movement was keeping the Englishman from scoring with anything significant. Tarver began to find a resting spot for his straight left. Rounds eight through ten were a cake walk for Tarver with Woods throwing single punches and never closing the range. Tarver was now landing the uppercut regularly. In the eleventh Tarver landed two heavy straight lefts driving Woods to the ropes. Woods fired back but Tarver’s defense was solid. Tarver closed the show firing on all cylinders catching the motionless Woods who may have thrown in his own towel and appeared to be looking for the bell. Tarver outworked and outscored the one dimensional Englishman but neither man was really hurt. The judges scored the fight 116-112, 117-111, 119-109.
During the post-fight press conference Tarver called out Dawson stating “Chad Dawson would be easy pickings now. He’s not the fighter now that he was before his fight. He’s a wounded duck.”
The semi main event matched 25 year old WBC light heavyweight champion “Bad” Chad Dawson 26-0, 17 Ko’s with 39 year old former world champion Glen “Road Warrior” Johnson 47-12-2, 32 Ko’s. “Bad” Chad Dawson controlled the early rounds boxing using his speed and agility landing several double straight left hands while the tough experience Johnson started slowly. Johnson stuck to his rugged straight forward pressure attack picking up his punch count rocking Dawson in the third. Rounds four through six had Johnson steamrolling throwing and landing from all angles landing the heavier shots in this two way battle. Johnson’s defense was solid and he was successful when jabbing his way in over Dawson’s sagging right.. “The Road Warrior” was “Bad” himself landing with both hands and regularly with his chopping right. In round seven Dawson began to box. Moving and picking his spots usually starting with multiple jabs and keeping Johnson off balance and out of range. Dawson continued to box through rounds eight and ninth but slowed in the tenth Johnson rocked the young champion with an overhand right. Johnson having lost several real close decisions in the past turned it on pounding Dawson in the tenth and outworking him in the championship rounds until stalling with about thirty seconds to go letting Dawson off the hook. It was a close fight to score and the crowd was clearly behind the older Johnson who was forcing the fight. Here at SBB we gave it to Dawson but felt the judges scores were a little too wide. Judge, Nicolas Hidalgo scored it 116-112 judge, Peter Trematerra 116-112 and judge, Jack Woodburn also scored it 116-112. You could of even gave a good argument for a draw.
On the undercard: Southpaw Cuban Olympic Gold Medalist bantamweight Yan Barthelemy 6-0, 0 Ko’s dropped Jose Bernal 26-12-1, 17 Ko’s winning the lopsided event. The fight was scored 60-53 times three.
Heavyweight Danny Williams 38-6, 30 Ko’s also dropped his opponent Marcus McGhee 20-16, 10 Ko’s in rout to a six round unanimous decision. The fight was scored 60-52 on all three judges cards.
Heavyweight Bowie Tupou 14-0, 11 Ko’s won an easy six round decision over veteran Ramon Hayes 15-26-1, 10 Ko’s by the scores of 59-55, 59-55, 58-56.
Junior middleweight Raymond Biggs Jr. remained undefeated moving to 9-0, 6 Ko’s, beating Jean Baptiste 7-3, 5 Ko’s by the scores of 58-55, 58-55, 59-54.
Female super middleweight Laura”Lady Ram” Ramsey 9-3, 4 Ko’s decked Alexandra “Sweet and Sour” Malloy 2-4-2, 0 Ko’s in the final round winning the bout 40-35 on all the judges cards.
Super middleweight Jonathan Nelson made his pro debut in fine fashion beating Devin Laney 0-3, winning by the scores of 40-36, 40-36, 39-37.
