Dawson: “There’s a new king in town!”
Tarver wants rematch, ‘Bad’ Chad wants to move on

Post-fight report & photos by Chris Cozzone

“There’s a new king in town,” newly-crowned IBF and IBO light-heavyweight champion Chad Dawson calmly stated at last night’s post-fight press conference. 

“He’s ‘Bad’ Chad Dawson—boxing’s pound-for-pound best.”

After a dominating win over dethroned Antonio Tarver, last night at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Dawson says he’s ready to move on to bigger game, with a new goal of proving himself boxing’s champion of champions.

“Bring on the Kelly Pavliks, the Bernard Hopkins, the Joe Calzaghes and the Roy Joneses,” said Dawson. “Bring on whoever. I will move on from what I accomplished tonight—my new goal is to be at the top of the pound-for-pound list.

“Hopefully, I’ll achieve that goal within a year.”

Not quite ready to see his grudge rival leave him behind, Tarver would like a chance at a rematch before he’s written off.

“My wish, right now, is for a rematch,” said Tarver. “If I win, I move on. If I lose . . . I will retire. That’s it, in a nutshell.

“Give me one more hurrah, and that’s it.”

If the choice is up to Dawson, a rematch is not his first pick.

“Do I want a rematch? Honestly, no,” he said. “But if it happens, it happens. I’m not running from a rematch, but I’d like to go on. We’ll sit down with Gary [Shaw] and if it’s all good, I’ll do it again. I’m not ducking no one.”

Promoter Shaw verified that the contracts had a rematch clause, but the issue is up in the air.

“If ‘Bad’ Chad wants to do it, we’ll do it,” said Shaw.

“Whoever it is, I know that I represent the best 175-pounder in the world. If the winner of Calzaghe-Jones wants to fight, that fight is made. If Arum wants to put up the winner of Pavlik-Hopkins, that fight’s made, too. At 175 pounds, step right on up.”

If left to the fans and critics, there appears to be little reason for an rematch, for Dawson’s win was a lop-sided one on the scorecards, from 117-110 twice, to 118-109.

“I won this fight in the gym,” said Dawson. “I never had any doubt that I would win. I gave up my title, but I gained two more.

“I knew that all his talking, it was just that—words. I knew, once you get in the ring, you got to use your hands, not your mouth. I just proved too much for him. I knew he was trying his hardest, but he wasn’t hurting me.”

Despite weeks of trash talk, both Tarver and Dawson were respectful of one another, both in the ring, and post-fight.

“There are no hard feelings,” said Tarver. “He was a young lion and he came to fight. His work rate won him the fight. I take nothing from the guy. He was the better man tonight.

“But I was never hurt, and the knockdown was definitely a push. I was never in any danger and I came out, again, unscathed.

“I want to do it again.”