Boxing Result: Chad Dawson Defeats Antonio Tarver For Top Spot At Light Heavy

© Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing

It was a story of youth vs. experience last night at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, NV and this time, youth won out as Chad Dawson proved to have too much in the arsenal for veteran Antonio Tarver to handle over the course of twelve rounds.

Dawson had voluntarily given up the WBC title he won over Tomasz Adamek last year after three defenses in order to finally face IBF/IBO Champion Tarver, after the two had exchanged verbal shots through the press for a few years.

That decision paid dividends as soon as the bell rang to begin the first round with 26 year old Dawson holding a clear advantage in reflexes and quickness, zipping Tarver with quick combinations and moving off before his 39 year old opponent could land anything of substance.

That scenario was generally the one that played out over the course of the twelve round bout as Dawson didn’t have a lot of trouble hitting Tarver but the veteran used good defensive skills to pick off a lot of follow-up punches with his gloves and arms after getting hit with the first shot or two of a combination.

Dawson paced himself well during the bout, taking a good bit of time off during rounds and at times, Tarver made him pay for such lapses with single shots to head and body or brief combinations but Dawson used good footwork and sharp counters to stay out of anything serious.

As the contest wore on, Tarver became increasingly more aggressive as he knew he was behind on the cards but that approach also opened himsefl up to the quicker Dawson’s good offensive skills.

This culminated in the twelfth and final frame when Tarver went for broke but was caught with a good counter shot on the top of the head that sent him spiraling and touching gloves on the canvas for a knockdown.

When the scores were read, Chad Dawson, 27-0 (17), was awarded the IBF and IBO titles via marks of 118-109 and 117-110, twice. Tarver loses for the first time in four bouts and falls to 27-5 (19).

On the undercard, former US Olympian Ricardo Williams, 13-2 (7), won his third bout in a row following a three year layoff by posting a points decision over Dario Esalas, 31-15 (25), via scores of 80-71 and 79-72, twice, after eight rounds at welterweight.

Promising super middle prospect Andre Dirrell, 13-0 (11), was also on the bill, staying busy with a four round decision win against Canada’s Andy Mavros, 6-2 (2), by scores of 39-37 on all three cards.

This marked only the second occasion that Dirrell had been taken the distance and the first time that he has lost a round to an opponent as a professional.