By Jim Dower: According to Fightnews.com, International Boxing Federation light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (27-0, 17 KOs) suffered a hairline fracture of his right hand in training, and will be unable to fight former IBF light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver (27-5, 19 KOs) for their previously scheduled rematch on March 14th. As of now, there’s no information about a date for the rescheduling of the fight but, more news will be coming shortly.
Dawson, 26, defeated the 40-year-old Tarver by a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision on October 11th, 2008, dominating Antonio in every round of the fight. However, due to Tarver having a rematch clause in the contract, it forced Dawson to give him a rematch or else risk getting stripped of the title.
With other more appealing fights out there, such as a rematch with Glen Johnson who had fought Dawson quite competitively in a losing 12-round decision effort in April 2008, Dawson was stuck fighting Tarver again. Given the one-sided nature of the first fight, it’s been bout that has failed to interest many boxing fans who see it as a waste of time.
It’s hard to imagine Tarver improving on his performance against Dawson, because Chad made it look so effortless, turning on his offense any time he wanted and drilling Tarver with fast combinations and making him look old.
Six months earlier, Tarver had dominated Clinton Woods, then the IBF light heavyweight champion, beating him quite easily – almost as easy as Dawson beat Antonio. But in watching Dawson toy with Tarver for 12 rounds, it showed how much more advanced Dawson is in comparison to other top light heavyweights in the division.
With Joe Calzaghe’s recent retirement from boxing, Dawson has claimed the title of being the top fighter in the light heavyweight division by default. Although he wanted to fight Calzaghe, Joe felt that he no longer had the desire to keep fighting and retired rather than face Dawson.
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