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The final build to Tarver vs. Dawson was when Showtime paired them on the sae card this past April. Here is that original recap:

Showtime Championship Boxing Recap

April 12, 2008

St. Pete Times Forum-Tampa, Florida

1. WBC Light Heavyweight (175 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Chad Dawson (25-0, 17 KO's, 1 NC, 173.75 pounds) (c) vs. Glen Johnson (47-11-2, 32 KO's, 172.5 pounds)

Dawson won this championship from Tomasz Adamek on February 3, 2007 via 12-round unanimous decision at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimee, Florida. This is Dawson's third defense of this title.

Dawson would be 26-0, however following a March 27, 2004, 6-round unanimous decision victory over Aundalen Sloan at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut, he failed a post match drug test. Unable to produce a prescription that said he needed the marijuana to combat his ADD, Dawson was suspended for 6 months and the outcome of the match was changed to a no contest. Dawson has said the public embarrassment from the failed drug test refocused him on boxing.

The New Haven, Connecticut resident was dominant in his last match, which was a glorified sparring session. Dawson defeated Epifanio Mendoza via technical knockout at 2:30 of round 4 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California on September 29, 2007. It was impressive Mendoza lasted that long. Dawson showed sterling defense in the match and able to do whatever he wanted in the ring that night.

Dawson is The Ring magazine's number 5 contender at 175 behind its champion in the weight class, Bernard Hopkins.

Johnson began his pro career facing embarrassingly soft opponents. From his pro debut on February 19, 1993, until February 25, 1997, Johnson had 30 matches and only twice against opponents that had 3 wins in their last 6 matches before facing him. All of Johnson's other 28 opponents sported 2 and usually fewer wins in their last 6 matches before facing him. This allowed Johnson to compile a record of 30-0 during that stretch. However, in Johnson's attempt to go 33-0, he was matched up with Hopkins. Hopkins defeated Johnson via technical at 1:23 of round 11 on July 20, 1997.

The Miami, Florida resident would then go 6-8-1 over his next 15 matches with the losses coming to the decent opponents and the wins over the likes of Armando Campas (3-20-4) and Augustine Renteria (9-23-5).

Then on November 7, 2003, Johnson received a match with Clinton Woods and earned a draw in a match for the vacant IBF Championship at 175 pounds at the Hillsborough Leisure Centre in Sheffield, England. However, most observers believe Johnson deserved the decision, but was competing in Woods' hometown. In a rematch with Woods on February 6, 2004 at Ponds Forge Arena in Sheffield, Johnson defeated Woods in a narrow unanimous decision.

This earned Johnson a match with an already past his prime Roy Jones, Jr. who was coming off back-to-back poor showings against Antonio Tarver. Johnson defeated Jones with a surprising knockout 48 seconds into round 9 on September 25, 2004. The outcome was thought to say more about Jones' fall from boxing royalty, then Johnson's rise to the level of boxing's elite. Johnson would next win The Ring championship at 175 pounds via 12-round split decision by upsetting Tarver on December 18, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Those 3 big wins in 2004 would lead Johnson to be named the 2004 Fighter of the Year by both USA Today and The Ring.

However on June 18, 2005, Johnson would drop the rematch to Tarver in a narrow unanimous 12-round decision at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Many observers felt Johnson had beaten Tarver in the rematch, but been on the wrong end of another bad decision. Johnson would win 2 more matches and earn a third match with Woods for a title at 175 pounds. Woods won this match on September 2, 2006 at Reebok Stadium in Lancashire, England via narrow 12-round split decision. This was another decision that Johnson probably deserved, but went against him. Johnson won a title eliminator for a shot Woods' belt, which is being contested in the main event of this show by defeating Montell Griffin via technical knockout at 2:38 of round 11 on May 16, 2007 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Johnson has yet to get that title match, and it is unclear if that title shot is officially at stake in this match.

The challenger's last match was technical knockout victory over Hugo Pineda at 49 seconds of round 8 on January 5, 2008 at Bally's Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Johnson is The Ring's number 4 contender at 175 pounds.

At 25-years-old, Dawson has the age advantage over the 39-year-old Johnson. Dawson has the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall, while Johnson stands 5' 9" tall. The champion has the reach advantage with a 76.5" wingspan, compared to Johnson's 75.5" wingspan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available, but Dawson will probably be the heavier competitor in the ring. The champion will box out of the southpaw stance, despite being naturally right handed. The challenger will employ the orthodox stance. Bodog lists Dawson as a heavy favorite in this match.

Kimbo Slice is part of Dawson's entourage entering the ring. Slice is wearing a very nice suit and a great matching hat that covers up his bald spot.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. The judges are from Venezuela, Florida and Montreal, Quebec. The referee is Tommy Kimmons.

Dawson puts on a boxing clinic winning round 1, 10-9. Johnson lands some good right hands to win round 2, 10-9. This is becoming a very good match. Really close round 3. Whenever Dawson is moving and using his superior hand and foot speed he is winning. In those situation, Dawson is able to land effective counter punches while still backing up and body punches from angles most boxers cannot throw them. However, whenever Dawson stops moving Johnson is hitting the champion hard. On the inside Johnson did some great work and appeared to have Dawson in trouble for a few seconds several times during the round when Dawson decided to stand and trade. However, Dawson still has significant power on the inside that can knockout Johnson, making this an exciting match. Johnson wins a close round 3, 10-9. Johnson poses for the crowd at the end of round 3, which brings the crowd to their feet cheering. Dawson looks stunned and a bit unsteady leaving his corner to start round 4. This is clearly not what Dawson expected in this match. Very close round 4 that Johnson may barely win, 10-9. The damage from the Johnson punches have taken a lot of the power off of Dawson's punches, and he appears to be wearing down from the relentless punching from Johnson. Johnson continues to walk Dawson down and force him to keep moving to punch. This is already the most difficult match of Dawson's career. After 4 rounds, Johnson leads on my scorecard, 39-37. Press row scoring after 4 rounds have it a majority draw: 38-38, 39-37 (Dawson), 38-38.

Dawson appears to out-land Johnson in round 5, and that should be good enough to win the round, 10-9. Dawson wins round 6 by boxing and moving, 10-9. After 6 rounds, my scorecard has the match even, 57-57. Press row has the match in favor of Dawson via majority decision after 6 rounds: 57-57, 58-56 (Dawson), 58-56 (Dawson).

Dawson dominates and wins round 7, 10-9. In round 7, Johnson's workrate and the power on his punches appeared to significantly decline from the effort of chasing Dawson the last several rounds. Also, Dawson has made several other key adjustments that are confusing Johnson and making things very difficult on the veteran. The southpaw is circling to his right and throwing more right hooks at the orthodox boxer. That way if Johnson circles to his left, he walks into Dawson's right hooks. If Johnson circles to his right, he would walk into the powerful straight left hand of Dawson. Also, Dawson's constant movement is preventing Johnson from charging straight at him, which would be Johnson's preferred strategy. This is an excellent display of boxing strategy and skill, that few among the elite boxers could pull off. Johnson looks discouraged heading back to his corner following round 7. To start round 8, Dawson is cut under his left eye. It is not impacting his vision and should be no factor in this match. Dawson is showing too much foot speed for Johnson and wins round 8, 10-9. After 8 rounds, Dawson leads on my scorecard, 77-75. After 8 rounds press row scoring has Dawson wining by a unanimous decision: 77-75, 78-74, 78-74.

Dawson wins a close round 9, 10-9. It appears Johnson's power punches can no longer significantly hurt Dawson. With no fear of Johnson's power Dawson had somewhat abandoned his continuous movement in the last few rounds, which allowed Johnson to catch him with a huge right hand with 52 seconds to go in round 10. Dawson is hurt badly and holding on desperately to stay standing. The crowd came to its feet, as Dawson tried to slug out the last 45 seconds after the referee forced a break, but Dawson escaped the round standing. It appears Johnson was too out of gas to go hard for the knockout the entire last 52 seconds or it is unlikely Dawson makes it to his corner without at least being knocked down. After Johnson was losing round 10, that right hand gives him the round decisively, 10-9. Great round 11, that Johnson probably wins, 10-9. Dawson decided not to box for the first 2 minutes of the round. Instead both boxers stood in close quarters trading power punches for the first 2 minutes of the round, until Dawson who was getting the worst of it decided to box, again. Dawson got the best of the boxing in the last minute, but both of these boxers are tired. Round 12 may be determined on how much Dawson has left to continue boxing, rather then to try foolishly trading punches with Johnson. After 11 rounds, my scorecard has Dawson leading, 105-104.

Johnson landed some heavy body punches in round 12, and some other punches that appeared to have Dawson hurt in the round. In round 12, Dawson landed some great combinations, and he, too landed some great body punches. However, Dawson appeared to ease up at the end of round 12 thinking he had the match won. Therefore, Johnson wins round 12 on my scorecard, 10-9. My scorecard has the match a draw, 114-114. This has been a great match and demands an immediate rematch. The crowd is giving the boxers a loud standing ovation as they go to their corners after the final bell sounds. The Showtime commentators correctly state that any doubts about the quality of these 2 boxers has been erased in this match. These are 2 elite boxers, and regardless of the outcome cannot be criticized for their performance in this match. The final scores from press row had a majority decision for Dawson: 114-114, 115-113 (Dawson), 115-112 (Dawson). That last card from press row is clearly a math error, because there is no way Dawson could have won any round, 10-8. Al Bernstein doing color commentary for Showtime scored the match a draw, 114-114.

It is taking a long time to add up the scorecards. The official decision as read by the always "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that the judges have scored the match: 116-112, 116-112, 116-112, all for the winner by unanimous decision and still WBC Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, "Bad" Chad Dawson. The decision moves Dawson to 26-0 with 17 of those wins coming by way of knockout, and 1 no decision.

In Dawson's post match interview he said this was the toughest match of his career, and he was hurt several times during the match. Dawson said he does not want a rematch, but would rather move on with his career.

Johnson in his post match interview was very upset, because he has been on the wrong side of several terrible decisions. Johnson wants a rematch.

Dawson is looking to face Tarver next. The Connecticut resident has made a special effort to be ringside at Tarver's last 2 matches. Assuming Tarver wins, that will be Dawson's next match. Based on their recent performances, Dawson should be the favorite going into a match against Tarver.

Johnson was excellent in this match, but at 39-years-old is running out of time to score big money matches. The most logical big money matches for him, do not make a lot of sense for his opponents. Johnson's first choice is the rematch with Dawson, which Dawson made clear is not happening. The Miami resident would be a solid choice to face Hopkins, should Hopkins lose to Joe Calzaghe next week. However, it is more likely Hopkins would retire or pick a bigger name opponent, rather then spend time rebuilding in a good, but unmarketable non-title match. Should Calzaghe lose to Hopkins he would drop back down to 168, which he may do anyway, and will not be looking to face Johnson anytime soon. A rematch with whoever loses the main event would make sense for Johnson. However, Johnson has already faced Woods 3 times and was on the wrong end of 2 bad decisions. Woods got the last win making the match undesirable for him. If Tarver loses he would probably get a rematch with Woods or still get a match with Dawson despite losing.  A rematch with Jones would also be a good match. However, that would be a high risk low reward match for Jones, who would probably turn it down in favor of only doing a match that could main event a PPV. All of these scenarios leave Johnson as the odd man out in the division, and with no clear direction where to go next. He has the talent to beat the top boxers in the division, but there is no reason for them to face him. Allan Green might be a good potential opponent for Johnson. It appears Johnson may be stuck in the undercards of pay-per-views knocking out people who are not at his level for far less money then he deserves.

2. IBF/IBO Light Heavyweight 12-Round Championship Unification Match:

Antonio Tarver (26-4, 19 KO's, 173.75 pounds) (IBO Champion) vs. Clinton Woods (41-3-1, 24 KO's, 175 pounds) (IBF Champion)

Tarver won his title when it was vacant via 12-round majority decision over Elvir Muriqi on June 9, 2007 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut. The previous champion was Bernard Hopkins, who relinquished the title to face Winky Wright in a big money match. This is Tarver's second defense of the title.

Woods won his title when it was vacant via technical knockout at 2:59 of round 5 over Rico Hoye on March 4, 2005 at the Magne Centre in Rotherham, England. The previous champion was Johnson, who vacated the title to face Tarver for The Ring Championship at 175 pounds. Woods is making his fifth defense of this title.

Tarver had a stellar amateur career that was capped off by winning a bronze medal for the United States in boxing at 178 pounds at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games.

The Tampa, Florida resident has recently begun referring to himself as a boxer and an actor, after playing the villain in "Rocky Balboa" (Rocky VI). The change in title has gone along with a dramatic fall off in the ring. Tarver was awful in losing The Ring Championship at 175 pounds to Hopkins via blowout 12-round unanimous decision on June 10, 2006 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The loss came after Tarver had finished his filming for Rocky Balboa and the boxer blamed his poor performance on having to lose the extra cosmetic muscle he put on for the movie, and that his food was poisoned the night before the match by a Hopkins supporter. Post match blood tests revealed no traces of poison in Tarver's system, it merely indicated he was making up excuses for being terrible in the ring that night. However, Tarver has embarrassingly stuck to his story of being poisoned, which has created a large public backlash against him.

Tarver's showings against his next opponent Muriqi was poor, as well. The Florida resident was badly gassed by the end of the match and only working in spurts during his best moments. In round 5, Tarver threw an intentional looking headbutt, that opened up Muriqi badly and swung the momentum of the match decidedly in his favor. Muriqi's vision was badly impaired from the cut and swelling the headbutt caused to the point the match was in jeopardy of being stopped. On several unofficial scorecards, Muriqi never won another round after being busted open. Despite the fact Muriqi was having severe vision problems and had never been past 8 rounds before in his career, Tarver was never able to come close to finishing the diminished boxer, who was perceived to be not at his level in the remaining rounds. Tarver became too gassed, and was only punching in brief spurts. He appeared out of shape for the match and unprepared to go a hard 12-rounds.

The American's last match was similarly unimpressive. Tarver defeated Danny Santiago via technical knockout at 2:53 of round 4 on December 1, 2007 at Foxwoods Casino. Santiago was part of season 3 of "The Contender". However, Santiago was not good enough to earn a match in the show's tournament. Tarver held a 5" height advantage over the out classed Santiago and still managed to make the match ugly. The first 2.5 rounds were a hugging contest, with Tarver doing little punching and the crowd booing. Tarver worked hard for the final minute of round 3 and nearly ended the match with the 1 minute of effort he had given in the match. Scoring 2 knockdowns in round 4, Tarver forced the referee to stop the contest. After the match Tarver boasted of the great defense and boxing skills he showed in the match. Those comments had many people watching the match confused, because Tarver was never threatened by any punches from Santiago and it appeared that Tarver could have ended the match in round 1 had he felt like it.

Tarver is The Ring's number 3 contender at 175 pounds.

Woods has boxed 43 of his 45 professional matched in Great Britain. Woods' first trip abroad was to Warsaw Poland on December 10, 1999 to defeat American Terry Ford, who was 17-18-1 going into the match with Woods and would retire 17-22-1, finishing his career with 4 straight knockout losses.

In Woods' only trip as a pro outside of Europe, he traveled to the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon to face a still in his prime Roy Jones, Jr. Jones defeated Woods via technical knockout, when Woods' corner threw in the towel at 1:29 of round 6 on September 7, 2002.

Woods' last match was a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Julio Cesar Gonzalez on September 29, 2007 at Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England. It was a rematch of a previous match between the two on September 9, 2005 from the same location, that Woods, also won via 12-round unanimous decision. Woods had surgery on his right elbow following the rematch, which explains the long break between matches. The Englishman has also, has had surgery on his left elbow. The boxer says both elbows are fine and he is pain free. However, they could become a problem during the match.

The Ring ranks Woods as the number 2 contender at 175 pounds.

The 35-year-old Woods is 4 years younger then the 39-year-old Tarver. Woods holds a slight height advantage standing 6' 2" tall, while Tarver is 6' 1.5" tall. The Englishman has the reach advantage with a 76" wingspan, compare to Tarver's 74" wingspan. Neither boxers' unofficial weights approaching match time are available. Tarver will box out of the southpaw stance, and Woods will employ the orthodox stance. Bodog lists the odds on this match as nearly even with Tarver (-120) and Woods (-110).

The judges are from England, Australia, and Florida. The referee is Frank Santore.

A few good left hands win round 1 for Tarver, 10-9. Woods may have won a close round 2, 10-9. Tarver is starting very slow, and Bernstein has noticed that Woods does not look mentally into the match, yet. Tarver wins round 3, 10-9. The crowd, which had at times booed the first match whenever the pace slowed to anything less then frenzied, is being unusually kind to this match. The crowd finally begins to boo this match at the end of round 4. Tarver wins round 4, 10-9. After 4 rounds, Tarver leads on my scorecard, 39-37. Press row scoring has Tarver winning by majority decision after 4 rounds: 40-36 (Tarver), 38-38, 39-38 (Tarver).

Tarver wins round 5, 10-9. In round 5, Tarver received a stern warning from the referee for both holding and pushing with his lead right arm. In this match, Woods almost seems determined to not punch. There are periods of 20 or more seconds, where Woods does not throw a punch. During those 20 seconds, Tarver is attempting and successfully punching Woods. Round 6 is all Tarver, and the Tampa resident wins round 6, 10-9. After 6 rounds Tarver is winning on my scorecard, 59-55. Press row has the match scored unanimously for Tarver after 6 rounds: 60-54, 58-56, 59-56.

Round 7 was close, until Woods decided not to punch for the last 1:30 of the round. Tarver wins round 7, 10-9. Tarver wins round 8, 10-9. After 8 rounds, Tarver leads on my scorecard, 79-73. However, after 8 rounds press row has Tarver winning by unanimous decision, but by a much closer margin: 79-73, 77-75, 77-76.

Woods wins round 9, 10-9. However, Woods nearly gave away the round by slowing his workrate in the last minute of the round. For no apparent reason, except maybe to play around, Tarver decided to box the first 2 minutes of round 10 out of the orthodox stance. When Woods started to gain an advantage against the ropes with 1 minute to go in the round, Tarver circled off the ropes and resumed his usual southpaw stance. Tarver is showing no respect for Woods skills in the ring. Once, Tarver switched to the southpaw stance, Woods stopped punching and Tarver probably stole what had been a relatively close round. Tarver wins round 10, 10-9. After 10 rounds Tarver leads on my scorecard, 98-92. The scores on press row have the match a draw after 10 rounds: 99-91 (Tarver), 95-95, 96-95 (Woods). The member of the press who has Woods ahead works for the UK newspaper The Sun.

Round 11 is close and the best action round of the match. Tarver takes it though, 10-9. Woods upper lip is swelling badly after round 11, following a straight left hand from Tarver. Tarver came out aggressively in the first minute of round 12 looking to finish the match strong. However, his pace slowed throughout the round, but Tarver finished strong the final 30 seconds and had his best offensive round of the match. Tarver showed no problems with fatigue at any point in this match. The American wins round 12 on my scorecard, 10-9, and the match, 118-110. The final press row scores had it unanimously for Tarver: 119-109, 115-113, 115-114.

Again, it is taking a long time for the judges to add up their scorecards. The official decision from the judges as read by the "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr.: 116-112, 117-111, 119-109, all for the winner by way of unanimous decision, and new unified IBF and IBO Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, Antonio "The Magic Man" Tarver. The win moves Tarver to 27-4 with 19 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

In his post match interview Tarver said he is looking to face other champions. Tarver put Woods over huge in his interview for coming to America, being a true champion, and a tough opponent that forced Tarver to win a tough gritty decision.

In Woods' post match interview, after hearing Tarver's interview, Woods put the new unified champion over huge. Woods said he had lost to the proven best 175 pound boxer in the world. He said it was a dream come true to be a champion and get this match. (At this point Tarver then chimed in from off camera with a congratulations.) Woods then said he may retire, but had to go home and talk it over with his family.

Tarver then got a second post interview. Here, Tarver said he would be happy to face Dawson, because Dawson is less of a boxer tonight then he was the day before. Tarver called Dawson, "a wounded duck" following the match he went through tonight with Johnson. Tarver said Dawson would be easy pickings right now. Tarver then threw out the challenge to Dawson that if he wants it he can come and get it. Showing that he is a fan of Goldberg, Tarver finished his promo on Dawson telling the young boxer that he was "next". This promo was great, and made me want to see that match.

Tarver had his best recent showing tonight, but did not prove a lot in the victory. He did not tire out, but the pace of the match was very deliberate. Tarver was never pushed to work hard. It appeared Tarver was capable of doing much more then he did, but chose not to try to do more then was necessary to win. This match was less about him looking dominant in victory, then Woods doing nothing and losing because of it. However, Tarver will face Dawson next and if the match can live up to Tarver's promos it should be a classic. Stylistically though it could turn into a very boring match in the ring. Hopefully, one of the things Tarver can teach Dawson their match and its build is how to cut a decent promo.

It appears the real Woods stayed in England, rather then show up for this match. He looked awful, barely punching through the first 7 rounds of the match. After that, Woods only punched sporadically. It did not appear to be anything that Tarver was doing that was causing Woods to have his worst day in the ring in years. It appeared all of Woods' problems were of his own making. Tarver was available to be hit and Woods never did. This appears to have been a mental thing on Woods' part to cause the bad performance. He appears to need the comfort of boxing in England to perform well. If Woods is to continue boxing, instead of retire as he suggested, he will need to do it in England versus easy opposition to prove that this performance was a mental issue. If this performance was caused by lingering problems from his elbow surgery then Woods' career is probably over. Woods is probably unprepared to go through another series of elbow surgeries and rehabilitations if that is the problem, when thoughts of retirement are already in his mind.

The first match was great. It was the best of the weekend and one of the best of the year. It is worth going out of your way to find a replay of that match. The main event, like every recent outing from Tarver, was unimpressive. Watching the main event could be used to cure insomnia.